Quakers Place Third at O'Briant Memorial

GREENSBORO, N.C. (10/27/09) -- Methodist University captured its sixth Tom and Bettie O'Briant Memorial Golf Tournament in seven years Tuesday afternoon at the Cardinal Golf and Country Club. The Monarchs swept the top-three places and had four golfers among the top-four finishers in the 90-student field. Emory University rallied past tournament host Guilford College into second place after shooting 299 in Tuesday's second and final round. The Eagles shot 602 for the tournament, 13 strokes behind Methodist and two strokes in front of Guilford (604). LaGrange College (624) and Berry College (631) rounded out the top-five in the 17-team field.

Methodist's Trey Howell and Josh Speight shared medalist honors in the 90-student field by shooting matching scores of 73-76-146 (+6). Teammate Josh Schrader, the defending tournament medalist, carded the day's low round (72) to finish in third place with a 76-72-148. The Monarchs' Alex Weir joined Guilford's Brian Creghan, Peter Latimer and Cape Fear Community College's Landon Pearson in fourth place at 149. The players endured rainy and cold conditions in the afternoon after a dry, but overcast morning.

The Monarchs shot the low team score both days, including Tuesday's 293, which was six strokes better than Tuesday's next score, Emory's 299. Kyle Berry closed out Methodist's lineup with a 79-83-162 in a share of 45th place.

Howell and Speight started the day one stroke behind Emory's Charles Raindre after opening-round 73s. Speight proved the model of consistency with pars on 26 of 36 holes while Howell finished with six birdies and 20 pars over two rounds on the par-70, 7,002-yard layout.

Guilford earned its fifth top-six finish in as many fall tournaments. Quakers' freshman Noah Ratner carded the team's low score Tuesday with a five-over-par 75 and shared 13th-place among individuals (76-75-151). Sophomore Dusty Roberts shot 76 Tuesday and ended up in a 19th-place tie with a two-day 155. Freshman J.T. Thomas shot 79-80-159 and shared 30th place. Guilford sophomore Andrew Thayer, one of five individuals in the tournament, finished in a share of 64th place with an 82-86-168.

The 22nd annual O'Briant Memorial featured even of NCAA Division III's top-25 teams, according to the Oct. 14 Golf World/NIKE Golf Division III Coaches poll, including three of the top-eight squads. Top-ranked Methodist, fourth-ranked Guilford and eighth-ranked Greensboro College make this one of Division III's top fall tournaments. Emory is the nation's 16th-ranked team in the poll.

The O'Briant returned to the renovated Pete Dye-designed Cardinal Golf and Country Club in 2008 following two years at the Greensboro Country Club. Guilford first hosted the tournament from 1978-87 when it was called the Guilford College Invitational.