CAPE CHARLES, Va. — Guilford College shot 897 and captured its 11th Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men’s golf title Tuesday at the Bay Creek Resort. The victory secures Guilford’s 17th trip to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament as winners of the ODAC’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Bridgewater College Mike Redwood eagled the 18th hole for a five-under-par 67 Tuesday and claimed his second straight ODAC Tournament medalist honor with an even-par 216. He edged Guilford sophomore Noah Ratner (Asheville, N.C./Asheville), the league’s 2010-11 Player of the Year, by two strokes. Quakers’ junior Mat Hennick (Kenmore, Wash./ Inglemoor (Skagit Valley)) shot two-under 70 Tuesday and placed third in the 40-man field at 220, four strokes off the lead.
The Quakers fired a third-round 300 Tuesday and finished 13 strokes ahead of Bridgewater in the eight-team field. The Eagles rebounded from an opening-round 319 to shoot 293-298 in the remaining two rounds. Guilford won its 11th ODAC crown since joining the league in 1992, one behind all-time leader Washington and Lee University, and its first since 2007.
Guilford’s Dusty Roberts (Reidsville, N.C./Rockingham County) started the day one shot behind Ratner for the lead, but stumbled to an 83 Tuesday and shared 10th place with teammate J.T. Thomas (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) with 231. Freshman Alex Wise (Eden, N.C./Carlisle School (Va.)) shot 80 Tuesday and finished in a share of 18th place at 236.
Ratner registered his best finish of the season after three third-place efforts in the fall. He has placed no lower than 13th in 10 tournaments this year and leads the ODAC with a 73.08 stroke average in 24 rounds. At Monday night’s awards dinner, Ratner became Guilford’s ninth winner of the league’s Player of the Year Award and the Quakers’ third honoree in as many years. Wise won the ODAC’s Rookie of the Year honor and Guilford’s Corey Maggard won the first Jack Jensen ODAC Coach of the Year Award, recently named for the former Guilford coach.
In addition to receiving all-tournament honors, Ratner and Hennick earned First Team All-ODAC recognition, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches. Teammates Roberts and Wise were second-team picks.
The Quakers, ranked first in the latest Golfstat Division III Relative Rankings and in the Nike/Golf World Division III Coaches’ poll, await the announcement of the rest NCAA Division III Championships field. Guilford and the Greensboro Sports Commission will co-host this year’s event at the Grandover Resort May 10-13. The Division III champion in 2002 and 2005, Guilford finished second at last year’s national tournament.