Guilford Rallies to Win Oglethorpe Invitational
Oakwood, Ga. (10/23/07) -- Guilford College’s men’s golf team shot a tournament-low 278 in the final round to rally from fourth place and win the Oglethorpe Invitational, edging host Oglethorpe (572) by two strokes.
The Quakers, who finished fourth at the 2006 Oglethorpe Invitational, started the day in fourth place seven strokes behind Oglethorpe, and also trailed Methodist (582) by six strokes and Old Dominion Athletic Conference-rival Washington and Lee (595) by two strokes.
Freshman Jonathan Wade paced the Quakers (570) earning his first tournament medalist honor. Wade shot a career-low 65 in the final round for a two-day score of 137 (72-65) to take home the top individual prize. The round of 65 is the second lowest single-round score ever posted by a Guilford golfer. The lowest round was a 62 by Joseph Poplin '07 at the Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate on the par 70 Scarlet Course, March 31, 2007.
Guilford sophomore Brian Creghan shot 71 to finish fifth place with a score of 143. Sophomore Scott Miller finished with a two-day 144 after shooting 70 Tuesday. Classmate Peter Latimer (146) and junior Burton Wood (150) shot a final day 72 and 74 respectively to round out Guilford's team scoring. Freshman Liam McGowan, playing as an individual recovered from a first-round 81 and shot a 76 Tuesday to finish with a two-day 157.
Tournament host Oglethorpe University shot Tuesday's second-lowest round (287) and fell one spot to finish second (285-287-572). Oglethorpe placed two golfers in the top five including second-place Scott Pugh (72-68-140) and third-place Hap Kaufold (68-74-142). Huntingdon's Chase Rogers also shot a two-day 142 (73-69) to finish in a third-place tie with Kaufold.
The Oglethorge Invitational featured nine of NCAA Division III's top-25 teams, according to the Oct. 17 Golf World/NIKE Golf Division III Coaches poll, including four of the top-five squads. Nine of Division III's last 14 national champions were in the field. First-ranked Methodist, second-ranked Oglethorpe and third-ranked Guilford made this one of Division III's top fall tournaments. Huntingdon, which finished fourth in the tournament field, is ranked fifth in the poll.
The teams competed on the par-71, 6,830-yard layout in at the Royal Lakes Country Club in Oakwood, Ga. This tournament concludes the fall season for coach Jack Jensen's Quakers. Guilford retakes the links February 25-26 in the Pine Needles Intercollegiate at the Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines, N.C.