Previewing the ODAC Men's Golf Championships

Apr 22, 2023

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The 2023 ODAC spring championship season kicks off on Sunday with the ODAC Men's Golf Tournament. This year marks the second straight campaign where the conference's men's and women's event compete at separate venues. The men's 54-hole championship slated for Sunday-Tuesday, April 23-25, will be followed by the women's three-round affair on Friday-Sunday, April 28-30.

This year's men's championship takes us to a new course with Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., serving as the host venue. Forest Oaks opened its gates for competition in 1962 and was the home of the Greater Greensboro Open for 30 years from 1977 to 2007. The course, which underwent a major overhaul by former PGA Tour star Davis Love III's Love Design Group in 2002, will be played at par-72 at an initial 6,928 yards for the first round with possible changes to distances later in the event.

Hampden-Sydney snapped a 28-year title drought after holding off a hard-charging Washington and Lee squad to hoist the ODAC trophy at the 2022 men's championship. The Tigers went wire-to-wire to claim their third league crown, firing the third (282), second (281), and third (283) lowest rounds of the championship, sequentially, before the Generals stormed back with a 273 on the final day. H-SC won by three strokes, capping 54 holes at Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet, Va., at 6-under par 846.

Hunter Martin led the charge for the Tigers as he claimed medalist honors by one stroke over Guilford's Michael Vick and Ferrum's Jackson Hoovler. Martin was the lone player in red numbers all three rounds on the par-72 track set to 6,810 yards. He carded six birdies in round one on the way to a 1-under 71. He was two strokes better over his next 18 holes powered by four birdies. In round three, he paired an eagle on the par-5 495-yard 14th hole with a pair of birdies for a second straight round of 2-under 69 to finish at 5-under 208 overall. Vick (72-68-69) and Hoovler (71-68-70) shared silver at 4-under 209.

The low-round of the tournament was posted by Randolph-Macon's Nathan Wright. He recovered from an opening round 78 to card a 72 in round two and then close with a 4-under 67 to place 14th overall.

ODAC golf fans have a lot to look forward to at the 2023 championships with four teams ranked inside the top-25 Division III ratings published by Golfstat. Guilford, winner of an ODAC record 18 men's conference championships, are slotted fifth in the country with Washington and Lee ranked 10th overall. New to the ODAC in 2022-23, Averett University sits 19th in the table, while Lynchburg rounds out that listing as the 25th-ranked team in Division III.

When it comes to player rankings, the ODAC's individual representation in Golfstat's rankings is just as impressive as its schools' plaudits. Below is a list of the 19 players ranked inside Golfstat's top-150 rankings along with their scoring averages.

Michael Vick, GC -- 3rd (71.6)
Pierce Robinson, W&L -- 6th (73.1)
Max Pettersson, AU -- 9th (73.0)
Antti Vavahselka, AU -- 15th (73.2)
Sam Davidson, GC -- 20th (73.0)
Alex Rubino, H-SC -- 64th (74.5)
James Alden, GC -- 72nd (74.5)
Evan Mendyk, GC -- 83rd (74.4)
Eddie Coffren V, LYN -- 84th (74.7)
Harrison Smith, LYN -- 92nd (75.1)
Will Braxton, W&L -- 93rd (76.8)
Andrew Watson, LYN -- 94th (74.7)
Alan Van Asch, W&L -- 96th (74.9)
Walker McPhail, W&L -- 97th (75.4)
Owen Malcolm, W&L -- 103rd (75.3)
Parker Cumbea, GC -- 111th (75.1)
Dan Ailor, SU -- 123rd (75.1)
Nick Rubino, H-SC -- 124th (75.2)
Simon Burgos, GC -- 145th (75.1)

Each of the conference's 11 sponsoring schools are set to enter five-player teams into the championship. Additionally, five schools -- Averett, Guilford, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Washington and Lee -- will feature a sixth player participating as "markers" to round out the field at 60 players and 20 groups of three for each tee time. Those individuals will appear in the Golfstat scoring results, but they will not factor in their teams' scores or considered for championship placement. First round play begins at 8:00 a.m. ET on Sunday.

For more information, visit the websites of the any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC’s championship website. Don’t forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

*Golfstat's rankings are current as of 4/16/23; the rankings are weighted based on a formula and do not use straight average to determine rank position.

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Previewing the ODAC Men's Golf Championships