Guilford College rallies to win O’Briant-Jensen Memorial and Quakers’ Hennick claims medalist honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College rallied to win its third
O’Briant-Jensen Memorial Golf Tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Cardinal
Golf and Country Club. The tournament-host Quakers swept the top-two places
and had three golfers among the top-13 finishers in the 90-student field.
Methodist University (306-294-600) fell eight strokes shy of its record
seventh O’Briant-Jensen crown and took second in the 17-team field.
First-round co-leader Greensboro College (305-296-601) placed third.
Greensboro’s B team shared fourth place with Bridgewater College and NCAA
Division II member King College at 617.

First-round leader Mat Hennick (Kenmore, Wash./Inglemoor
(Skagit Valley College)) claimed Guilford’s first medalist honor in the
annual event’s 33-year history by shooting 69-73-142. Teammate Dusty Roberts
(Reidsville, N.C./Rockingham County) carded a one-under-par 69 Tuesday, his
lowest round of the season, and shared second place with Bridgewater’s Mike
Redwood (70-74-144). Greensboro College’s Ben Nihart finished fourth at
71-75-146, followed by Methodist’s Robby Bruns (79-69-148) and Mike Duncan
(70-78-148), who shared fifth place.

The Quakers started the day in fourth place, three shots
behind co-leaders Bridgewater and Greensboro and one stroke behind
Methodist. Led by Hennick and Noah Ratner’s three-under 32s, Guilford made
the turn at nine-under as a team. The Quakers’ 284 marked the tourney’s low
score and sealed their third title in five fall events. Ratner, ranked third
in the Golfstat.com NCAA Division III Head-to-Head Player Standings,
rebounded from a first-round 83 with a two-under 68 that marked the
tournament’s low round. His 36-hole 151 shared 13th place. Rookie teammate
Alex Wise (Eden, N.C./Carlisle School (Va.)) shaved seven strokes off his
opening-day 81 and shared 26st place at 81-74-155. J.T. Thomas closed
Guilford’s lineup with an 83-81-164 that ranked 61st place.

Hennick made a tournament-best eight birdies, four in both
rounds, one better than Roberts and two more than Ratner. The Quakers made
24 birdies as a team over the 36 holes, seven better than Methodist.
Guilford did its most damage on the Cardinal’s two par-five holes, averaging
4.80 as a team with four birdies. Roberts had three birdies on the par-five
holes, the longest on the par-70, 7,002-yard layout.

The 23rd annual O’Briant-Jensen Memorial featured three of
NCAA Division III’s top-25 teams, according to the Sept. 30 *Golf World*/NIKE
Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll, including three of the top-seven squads.
Top-ranked Greensboro, third-ranked Greensboro and seventh-ranked Guilford
made this a challenging fall tournament. Six schools were ranked among the
top-32 teams in the Oct. 20 Golfstat.com Division III Head-to-Head
Standings.

The O’Briant-Jensen 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. It is named
for longtime Guilford golf supporters Tom & Bettie O’Briant as well former
Guilford golf mentor Jack Jensen, who died suddenly last March in the midst
of his 33rd season as the Quakers’ golf coach.

Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics