Men's Golf Releases (2005-06) - Guilford Finishes Fifth At NCAA Men's Golf Championship - Guilford College

 

      Lincoln, NE (5/11/06) -- Guilford College's men's golf team placed fifth at the 23-team NCAA Division III Championship after shooting 318 in Thursday's fourth and final round at the windblown Firethorn Golf Club. The Quakers, who led after each of the first two rounds, finished 22 strokes behind tournament champion Nebraska Wesleyan with 1215 strokes. The home-standing Prairie Wolves shot the low scores in each of the last two rounds, including Thursday's 303, and finished 10 strokes ahead of second-place Redlands (1203). Methodist (1210) and Oglethorpe (1211) rallied past Guilford into third and fourth places, respectively, on a day where steady winds gusted up to 35 miles per hour.

 

      Guilford entered the tournament as the defending national champion and ranked first in the May 4 Bridgestone/Golf Coaches Association of America Division III Poll. The Quakers, who won the 2002 national title at Firethorn, have finished fifth or higher in five of the last 10 NCAA Division III Championships.

 

      Junior Joseph Poplin led the Quakers with a four-over-par 75 Thursday and earned Second Team PING All-America honors by placing 13th in the 120-student field with a four-round 302. Senior teammate Jeff Osberg  also received second-team All-America honors with his 16th-place finish. After recording Guilford's low scores in each of the first three rounds, Osberg shot a nine-over 80 Thursday. Senior Chris Lowman played the first nine holes at one over for the second day in a row, but double-bogeyed four of the last five holes to close with an 80. Lowman's four-day 304 put him in a tie for 22nd place and garnered third-team All-America recognition. Guilford junior Colin Clark, the defending national champion, shot 83 Thursday and shared 36th place at 309. He also received third team All-America honors.Sophomore Steve Walton shot 88 Thursday to finish with a 324 in his NCAA Tournament debut.

 

      Playing as an individual, Rochester's Stephen Goodridge maintained his third-round lead and won medalist honors with a five-over-par 289. Rhodes' John Jennison carded Thursday's low round with an even-par 71 that moved him into second place (291). He birdied two of his last three holes, which helped him past Redlands' Nick Obie, who shot 75 and finished at 292.. Oglethorpe's Danny Swanick, the second-round leader, took fourth at 296.



FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
School Strokes Par
1 Nebraska Wesleyan 309-289-292-303-1193 +57
2 Redlands 311-286-297-309-1203 +67
3 Methodist 303-300-302-305-1211 +74
4 Oglethorpe 307-293-304-307-1215 +75
5 Guilford 299-296-302-318-1215 +79
T6 Ohio Wesleyan 312-304-301-307-1224 +88
T6 Otterbein 308-300-310-306-1224 +88
8 Rhodes 308-304-305-311-1228 +92
9 Emory 312-309-300-317-1238 +102
T10 Allegheny 322-297-299-322-1240 +104
T10 Skidmore 309-301-313-317-1240 +104
12 Texas Lutheran 312-301-307-324-1244 +107
13 LaVerne 314-303-309-323-1249 +113
14 Gustavus Adolphus 320-308-313-313-1254 +118
15 Huntingdon 321-297-309-328-1255 +119
16 Salem State 312-305-323-317-1257 +121
17 Hope 319-304-313-323-1259 +123
18 St. John's (MN) 312-309-307-332-1260 +124
19 Washington & Jefferson 319-309-306-337-1271 +135
20 Claremont McKenna 327-305-320-324-1276 +140
21 New York 310-310-312-347-1279 +143
22 California Lutheran 320-300-326-344-1290 +154
23 St. John Fisher 323-318-326-334-1303 +167

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
1 Stephen Goodridge Rochester 77-71-68-73-289 +5
2 John Jennison Rhodes 76-70-74-71-291 +7
2 Nick Obie Redlands 77-67-73-75-292 +8
3 Danny Swanick Oglethorpe 75-68-75-78-296 +12
T5 five with 298 +14

GUILFORD STUDENTS
T13 Joseph Poplin 76-74-77-75-302 +18
T16 Jeff Osberg 74-74-75-80-303 +19
T22 Chris Lowman 75-74-75-80-304 +20
T36 Colin Clark 74-77-75-83-309 +25
T94 Steve Walton 80-74-82-88-324 +40