GUILFORD COLLEGE EARNS NCAA DIVISION III GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP BID
GUILFORD’S BID:
* Guilford College’s men’s golf team earned an at-large bids to the 2010
NCAA Division III Championships. The full 37-team field was announced Monday
and contains 27 automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large selections. Five
competitors will play as individuals, rounding out the 190-man field. The
national championships will be held May 11-14, at the Hershey Links and
Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pa. Elizabethown College serves as the
tournament hosts.
The team and individual champions will be determined after 72 holes of play
or the conclusion of the last fully completed round. After 36 holes, the
field will be cut to the top-24 teams and top-five individuals not on one of
those teams.
*
GUILFORD VS. THE 2010 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIELD:
* The Quakers met nine of the other 36 teams in the field during the regular
season and compiled a 21-10-1 record in those meetings. Guilford went 7-1 at
the prestigious Royal Lakes/Oglethorpe Invitational October 19-20 by virtue
of its second-place finish. Nine of the 16 teams in the tournament qualified
for the NCAA Championships field. The Quakers defeated five of seven NCAA
participants with a third-place performance at the Emory Spring Invitational
April 12-13.
Guilford’s 2009-10 records versus the nine teams are as follows: Bridgewater
(5-1), Central (Iowa) (1-0), Centre (3-0), Emory (3-1), Greensboro (4-3),
Huntingdon (1-0), LaGrange (2-0), Methodist (0-4), Oglethorpe (2-1-1).
*
GUILFORD IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS:
* Guilford received its 16th NCAA Championships bid in 19 years of NCAA
membership and its first since 2007. The Quakers won their second national
title in four years in 2005 with a 25-stroke triumph over the University of
Redlands at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills,
Fla. Guilford captured the 2002 NCAA Championship with a six-stroke victory
over Greensboro College at the Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb. The
title marked the program’s first NCAA Division III title in any sport. The
Quakers qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in seven
consecutive years after leaving the National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics (NAIA) ranks in 1991.
Guilford’s NCAA Championships history is listed below:
*
Year Rd. 1 Rd. 2 Rd. 3 Rd. 4 Total Finish/Teams
1992
* 319 304 316 302 1241 11/21*
1993
* 322 328 316 306 1272 16/22*
1994
* 327 323 311 316 1277 T17/23*
1995
* 333 325 328 986* 19/23*
1996
* 297 311 295 309 1212 8/23*
1997
* 302 295 340 302 1239 T5/23*
1998
* 305 303 295 306 1209 11/23*
2000
* 304 320 303 927* T11/23*
2001
*293 292 283 295 1163 2/23*
2002
* *300 311 301 300 1212 1/23
2003
*313 305 298 307 1223 17/23*
2004
*312 304 314 292 1222 12/23*
2005 302 285 297 290 1174 1/23
2006
*299 296 302 318 1215 5/23
2007 307 311 314 312 1244 T7/35
* – tournament shortened by weather
*
GUILFORD IN THE POSTSEASON:
* As seen by their NCAA Championships experience, the Quakers are no
strangers to postseason competition. Guilford ranked among the elite NAIA
men’s golf programs during its affiliation with the organization and won the
1989 NAIA national championship.
Guilford teams have qualified for national playoff competition 27 times in
the last 34 years. The Quakers recorded top-six finishes in 10 NAIA National
Tournaments from 1979-1990, including runner-up performances in 1985, 1986
and 1987. Guilford placed second in the 2001 NCAA Division III Championships
by one stroke to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
*
GUILFORD’S LINEUP
Low
Name (Class, Hometown) Rounds Avg. Round Best Finish (Tournament, Date)
*
1. Peter Latimer (Sr., Markinch, Scotland) 24 72.58 66 1st (207), Camp
Lejeune Intercollegiate, 3/26-28
2. Noah Ratner (Fr., Asheville, N.C.) 23 74.78 66 T4th (222), Davidson
Invitational, 10/12-13
T4th (150), Palmer Invitational, 2/22-23
3. Brian Creghan (Sr., Radnor, Pa.) 24 75.88 68 T4 (149), O’Briant Memorial,
10/26-27
4. J.T. Thomas (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) 24 77.67 72 T13 (147), Greensboro
Invitational, 9/28-29
5. Dusty Roberts (So., Reidsville, N.C.) 24 78.21 71 T12th (234), ODAC
Championships, 4/18-20
*
QUAKER NOTES:
*The Quakers are ranked third in Golfstat’s Apr. 28 Division III
Head-to-Head Rankings with a 267-2 record, including a 10-2 mark against
top-25 clubs… Guilford ranks third nationally in par-3 scoring (3.28),
third in par-4 scoring (4.30), seventh in par-5 scoring (5.02) and eighth in
subpar strokes per round (2.18) according to the Apr. 30 Golfstat Statistics
Rankings… Guilford’s 299.67 team stroke average stands ninth in school
history… the Quakers are ranked fourth in the April 28 *Golf World*/Nike
Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll.*
LAST TIME OUT:
* Guilford placed second in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC)
Championships Apr. 18-20 at the Bay Creek Golf Resort in Cape Charles, Va.
The Quakers, which have won a league-record 10 ODAC golf crowns, finished 10
strokes behind first-time winner Bridgewater College. Guilford shot
314-302-309-925. The second-place effort marked the Quakers’ second
runner-up finish of the year and their 10th top-six performance in as many
events.
Senior *Peter Latimer *earned All-ODAC Tournament recognition for the second
straight season by virtue of his second-place finish. He shot 79-69-73-221
in 54 holes and tied Bridgewater’s Mike Redwood for first place. Redwood won
a one-hole playoff, sending Latimer to his fourth runner-up finish of the
year and third of the spring. *Brian Creghan *(81-77-76-234) and *Dusty
Roberts *(74-79-81-234) shared 12th place individually for Guilford.
*
REMEMBERING JACK JENSEN:
* Unlike their previous NCAA Championships appearances, the Quakers are
competing this year without longtime head coach *Jack Jensen*, who died
suddenly March 28 after returning from the Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate. He
was 71.
*Jensen *coached men’s basketball for 29 years until 1999 and was in his
34th season as coach of the golf team. His teams won four national
championships: the 1973 NAIA men’s basketball title, the 1989 NAIA golf
title and the 2002 and 2005 NCAA Division III golf titles.
In his career, *Jensen *coached future NBA players* M.L. Carr ’73*, *World
B. Free ’76* and *Greg Jackson ’74* as well as *Lee Porter ’89*, who spent
six years on the PGA Tour.
The most decorated coach in Guilford’s history, *Jensen *is enshrined in the
NAIA, North Carolina, Guilford County, Guilford College and Wake Forest
University Sports Halls of Fame, as well as the Golf Coaches Association of
America Hall of Fame. He was only the second person to coach two different
sports to NAIA national titles. In 2009, Guilford’s main basketball floor in
the Ragan-Brown Field House was renamed *Jack Jensen* Court.
*Jensen *came to Guilford in 1965 as an assistant men’s basketball and head
track and field coach. He assisted the basketball team before assuming
head-coaching duties in 1970 and compiled a 386-392 record as head coach. In
the 1970s, his basketball teams were 207-71 with six 20-win seasons.
After assuming golf-coaching duties in 1976, *Jensen *built Guilford into an
NAIA golf power. From 1985-90, Guilford finished no lower than sixth at the
NAIA tourney and placed second from 1985 to 1987. Guilford’s success
continued in 1992 when it moved to the NCAA Division III ranks. On the
conference level, the Quakers have won 10 ODAC championships and
*Jensen *earned
a league-record nine ODAC Coach of the Year plaques. He earned Dave Williams
National Coach of the Year recognition after all three championship seasons.
Many *Jensen*-coached golfers have enjoyed individual success. Guilford’s *Lee
Porter ’89*, a two-time All-American and 1988 World University Games gold
medalist, played on the Nationwide Tour and spent six years on the
Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour. *Bill Brooks ’83* and *Rob Odom
’87* were the NAIA Tournament medalists in 1983 and 1986, respectively. *Colin
Clark ’07 *edged teammate *Dave Patterson ’06 *in a one-hole playoff to win
medalist honors at the 2005 NCAA national championship.
*Korky Kemp*, a Greensboro resident and regional director with the College
Golf Fellowship, is accompanying Guilford’s team for the rest of the 2010
season. *Kemp *was a 1998 Golf Coaches Association of America All-America
Scholar at North Carolina State University.
Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics