Latimer, Creghan Finish in Top-10 Individually
HERSHEY, Pa. --- Guilford College's
gallant comeback on the final day of the NCAA Division III
Men’s Golf Championships fell one stroke short Friday as
Methodist University hung on for its 10th national title at the
Hershey Links Course. The Quakers shot the tournament's low round
Friday, a five-under-par 283, while Methodist carded a 293. The
teams withstood a one-hour weather delay with the Monarchs clinging
to a two-stroke lead late in the round.
The Quakers started the day in third place among 37 teams, 11
strokes behind the top-ranked Monarchs. Playing with Methodist and
second-place Huntingdon College, Guilford had a good start and
found itself ahead of Huntingdon and just two strokes behind the
Monarchs as the teams made the turn. The Quakers’ Peter
Latimer and Dusty Roberts both birdied four of their first nine
holes, while senior teammate Brian Creghan had three birdies on the
front nine.
"I'm really proud of the guys," Guilford interim coach Korky Kemp
said. "They made a ton of birdies. We had a different game plan
where we were going to come out aggressive. They played well."
The Quakers cooled a bit after the turn and Methodist regained an
11-stroke edge as the day wore on. However, three back-nine birdies
by Guilford freshman Noah Ratner combined with a bounty of
Methodist bogeys brought the Quakers back to within two
strokes.
Methodist’s Alex Weir was five-over par on the back nine
before he birdied the par-five 18th hole. Teammates Josh
Speight and Liam Friedman followed suit with critical birdies on
the final hole. Guilford’s Roberts kept the pressure on with
a birdie of his own on 17.
As the tension mounted, so did storm clouds. Action was delayed one
hour and 40 minutes by a thunderstorm with the top three teams
still having three players on the course and Methodist holding a
two-shot lead over Guilford. When play resumed, the Monarchs'
Speight birdied 18 while the Quakers' Roberts parred the hole to
give Methodist a three-stroke lead.
Guilford got the stroke back in the next group, as Creghan finished
off a birdie putt while Methodist received a par from Trey
Howell.
In the final group, Schrader laid up short of the green with his
second shot, but his third shot landed in a bunker, and his fourth
shot found the rough short of the green. Meanwhile, Guilford's
Latimer was on the green in two and had an eagle putt for the win,
but his shot went six feet past the hole.
Schrader chipped just past the hole and left himself a four-footer
for bogey, which would only force a tie if Latimer was able to make
the birdie putt. However, Latimer's putt was six inches wide of the
cup, and his tap-in for par opened the window for Schrader, who
drilled his putt to give the Monarchs the title.
Schrader placed fourth overall at 78-69-68-72-287, two shots in
front of Latimer (77-72-72-68-289) and Huntingdon’s Chase
Blaich (77-70-72-70-289).
"We couldn't have done much more," Latimer said afterwards. "We
left all that we had out there."
The Quakers matched the school record for low score at a national
championship with its round of 283. Methodist, which placed third
in the 2009 NCAA Tournament after leading through three rounds,
finished with a four-day 1,177. The Monarchs edged the Quakers by
one shot in the closest NCAA Division III men’s golf
tournament since 2001 when the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
edged Guilford, 1,162-1,163.
Guilford's second-place finish is the school's second in 16 NCAA
Division III Championship appearances and its fifth runner-up
effort at a national tournament. The Quakers placed second at the
NAIA National Tournament in 1985, 1986 and 1987. The smallest
deficit in those events was six strokes in 1986. Guilford won NCAA
titles in 2002 and 2005 and has seven top-10 finishes in its NCAA
tournament history.
With three All-America honorees, Guilford matched a school record
accomplished six times, most recently in 2006. Latimer, who entered
the tournament ranked first in the Golfstat.com Division III
Head-to-Head rankings, was a first-team All-America honoree by
virtue of his fifth-place performance. Creghan climbed three spots
to finish in 10th place at 73-73-76-71-293, good enough
for second team All-America honors. Roberts, a sophomore who
entered the tournament with a 78.21 stroke average, shot
75-73-76-73-297 in his best effort to share 20th place
and garner third-team All-America recognition.
Ratner jumped 20 places in the individual standings into
42nd with his one-under 71 Friday. One of six members of
the Golf Coaches Association of America All-Freshmen Team, he shot
78-80-73-71-302 in his NCAA Tournament debut. Classmate J.T. Thomas
(Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) rounded out Guilford’s results in a
share of 95th place with an 82-79-74-80-315.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges’ senior Tain Lee finished
with a two-under-par 70 Friday and claimed the national medalist
honor. Playing as an individual, he led from wire-to-wire and shot
seven-under 280 for the tournament. Lee finished three strokes
ahead of the University of LaVerne’s Mitchell Fedorka, who
shot 67, the day’s low round, to finish at 74-70-72-67.
Centre College’s Chris Morris also shot 67 Friday and placed
third at 75-70-72-67-284.
Bridgewater College senior Travis Gahman was the lone Eagle to play
the final two days, albeit as an individual. Gahman finished
in a tie for 27th after firing a final round 71 to jump
15 spots from the beginning of the day. He posted a
78-74-76-71-299, good for 12-over-par.
Guilford played this tournament under the direction of Kemp, who
took over in April after the sudden passing of longtime coach Jack
Jensen March 28. Jensen coached the Quakers’ golfers for over
33 years and won three national titles in his career. A search for
his successor will take place this summer.
"Coach changed our lives," Creghan said. "Today was for him. We
gave it all that we had."
This release is courtesy of the Guilford College sports information
department.