BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. --- Guilford College increased its number of conference men's golf titles to a record 17 crowns with its second straight wire-to-wire finish in the ODAC Men's Golf Championship, giving the Quakers seven league trophies in the last eight years. Quakers occupied the top-three spots on the final leaderboard with all five scoring players finishing 10th or better.
Weather again forced ODAC players to compete in an altered format as heavy rain threaten to shorten the three rounds slated for Bryan Park Golf & Conference Center in Browns Summit, N.C. With Tuesday looking to be a wash on predicted forecasts, the tournament's games committee made the decision to attempt to get both the second and third rounds completed on Monday rather than shorten the 54-hole event to 36 holes.
The move worked as all 54 men's golfers completed two rounds on Monday despite periods on and off rain, sometimes heavy in nature.
RELATED: Men's Championship Results
Addison Manring carded just four stroke play rounds before earning his spot in the tournament field in Guilford's qualifying process. He certainly made his selection stand up with rounds of 1-over 73, 4-under 68, and 1-under 71 to top the field at 4-under 212 on the par 72 layout set at variations surrounding 6,800 yards on the Champions Course. Manring carded 11 birdies combined over the three rounds, including five in the final round, but his most exciting moment came in the second round on the par-5 third hole. He found the bottom of the cup with his second shot for a double-eagle marking the lone albatross of the tournament.
Teammates Kell Graham (74-72-68) and Josh Hill (70-75-71) placed second and third at 2-under 214 and even-par 216, respectively. Graham, who finished as the runner-up in 2017 following a playoff with Hill, notched eight birdies as he charged hard in an attempt to catch Manring. He birdied four of his first six holes and three of his final five, but four bogeys left him two shots short of Manring.
Guilford shot 6-under 282 in the final round to secure a 1-under score of 863 when combined with team cards of 289 and 292 over the first 36 holes. James Mishoe (74-77-72) and Zach Evens (72-78-74) rounded out the Quakers contingent at 7-over 223 an 8-over 224, respectively, which tied for eighth and tied for 10th overall.
Just two strokes proved the difference between second and fourth place. Washington and Lee University (296-296-304) finished second at 32-over 896, while Virginia Wesleyan University (306-295-296) and Hampden-Sydney College (295-295-308) sat third and fourth at 33-over 897 and 34-over 898, respectively.