Guilford Wins Record-Tying 10th ODAC Golf Championship
Amherst, Va. (4/23/07) -- Guilford College shot 873 and captured its league record-tying 10th Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's golf title Monday at the Poplar Grove Golf Club. The victory secures Guilford's 15th trip to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament as winners of the ODAC's first automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Guilford senior Colin Clark birdied the last five holes for a six-under-par 66 Monday and claimed medalist honors with a five-under 211. He is the Quakers' eighth ODAC Tournament champion and the third Guilford student to win a tournament this spring.
The Quakers fired a third-round 296 Monday, 10 strokes better than runner-up Washington and Lee University's 306, and finished 17 strokes ahead of the Generals (890) in the nine-team field. Guilford won its seventh ODAC crown in eight years and its 10th title since joining the league in 1992. Washington and Lee also has 10 league golf championships.
Clark, who placed second in each of the last two ODAC Tournaments, carded the tournament's low round Monday with his late rally. He started the day in fifth place, seven strokes behind teammate Joseph Poplin, the 18- and 36-hole leader. Poplin shot a four-over 76 Monday for a three-day 214 (-3) in his third runner-up finish of the season. Washington and Lee junior Nathaniel James and Hampden-Sydney College junior Bob Boykin both finished five strokes off the lead in a tie for third place (216). Roanoke College freshman Billy McDonald (220) and Bridgewater College junior Shawn Harper rounded out the top-six finishers, who comprise the 2007 All-ODAC Tournament team.
Guilford freshman Peter Latimer shot 80 Monday for a three-day 224, which placed seventh on the individual leaderboard. Sophomore Burton Wood carded a third-round 76 for a 54-hole 229 that ranked 12th among individuals. Rookie Brian Creghan finished with a three-day 236 after Monday's round of 78.
The ODAC golf coaches selected Poplin as the league's Golfer of the Year, an honor Clark received in 2004 and 2005. Latimer took home Guilford's first ODAC Rookie of the Year Award in the prize's third season of existence. Quakers' head coach Jack Jensen won his league-record eighth ODAC Coach of the Year plaque.
The Quakers, ranked second in the latest Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head Standings and second in the Nike/Golf World Division III Coaches' poll, await the announcement of the rest NCAA Division III Championship Tournament field. Anderson University the Hamilton County Convention and Visitors Bureau co-host this year's event at the Hawthorns Golf and Country Club (Fishers, Ind.) and Prairie View Golf Club (Carmel, Ind.) May 15-18. Guilford, the 2002 and 2005 NCAA Division III champions, finished fifth at last year's national tournament.