Guilford To Make 17th NCAA Division III Championships Appearance

GUILFORD COLLEGE EARNS NCAA DIVISION III GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP BID

GUILFORD’S BID: By virtue of its victory in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament April 19, Guilford College’s men’s golf team earned an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships. The full 40-team field was announced Monday and contains 28 automatic qualifiers and 12 at-large selections. Five competitors will play as individuals, rounding out the 205-man field. The national championships will be held May 10-13, at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. Guilford College and the Greensboro Sports Commission serve as the tournament co-hosts. The Quakers last hosted a national golf championship in 1979 when the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) played its championship event at the Cardinal Golf and Country Club. Greensboro College hosted the 1988 NCAA Division III Championships at the Greensboro Country Club Farm Course.

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-15 teams and top-five individuals not on one of those teams.

GUILFORD VS. THE 2011 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIELD: The Quakers met 13 of the other 39 teams in the field during the regular season and compiled a 23-7 record in those meetings. Guilford went 12-0 at the prestigious Greensboro Gordin Classic Invitational October 10-11 by virtue of its first-place finish. Thirteen of the 18 teams in the tournament qualified for the NCAA Championships field. The Quakers defeated three of six NCAA participants with a fourth-place performance at the Emory Spring Invitational April 11-12.

Guilford’s 2010-11 records versus the 13 teams are as follows: Transylvania (1-0), St. John’s (Minn.) (1-0), Centre (2-1), Christopher Newport (6-0), Emory (2-1), Greensboro (2-2), Huntingdon (1-0), Methodist (3-1), Nebraska Wesleyan (1-0), Oglethorpe (1-2), Skidmore (1-0), Washington and Jefferson (1-0), Wisconsin-Stout (1-0).

GUILFORD IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Guilford received its 17th NCAA Championships bid in 20 years of NCAA membership and second in as many years. 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 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
2010    303      297      295      283      1178    2/37
* - 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 28 times in the last 35 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 2010 NCAA Division III Championships by one stroke to Methodist University and 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. Noah Ratner (So., Asheville, N.C.) 24 73.08 68 2nd (218), ODAC Championships, 4/17-19
2. Mat Hennick (Jr., Kenmore, Wash.) 24 73.50 69 1st (142), O’Briant-Jensen Memorial, 10/25-26
3. Alex Wise (Fr., Eden, N.C.) 24 76.08 71 T3 (145), Ted Keller Memorial, 10/2-3
4. Dusty Roberts (Jr., Reidsville, N.C.) 24 76.21 69 T2 (144), O’Briant-Jensen Memorial, 10/25-26
5. J.T. Thomas (So., Raleigh, N.C.) 24 77.33 70 T10 (231), ODAC Championships, 4/17-19
T10 (157), Old North State Invit., 2/21-22

QUAKER NOTES: The Quakers are ranked second in Golfstat’s Apr. 27 Division III Relative Rankings with a 268-1 record, including a 9-1 mark against top-25 clubs. St. John’s (Minn.) is ranked first… Guilford ranks second nationally with 271 birdies this season, fourth in eagles (10), fifth in average score (75.34) and fifth versus par (+3.84) according to the May 2 Golfstat Statistics Rankings… Guilford’s 297.58 team stroke average stands second in school history… the Quakers are ranked first in the April 27 Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll.

LAST TIME OUT: Guilford won its 11th ODAC Championship Apr. 17-19 at the Bay Creek Golf Resort in Cape Charles, Va. The Quakers, who won their first league crown since 2007, finished 13 strokes ahead of second-place Bridgewater College. Guilford shot 303-294-300-897. The victory marked the Quakers’ first of the spring season and fourth win of the year. Guilford, which lost another spring tournament in a playoff, has nine top-five finishes in 10 events this season.

Sophomore Noah Ratner earned All-ODAC Tournament recognition by virtue of his second-place finish. He shot 75-72-71-218 in 54 holes and finished two strokes behind Bridgewater’s Mike Redwood, who clinched his second straight ODAC medalist crown with an eagle on the 18th hole. (Redwood received one of five at-large individual spots in this year’s NCAA Championships.) Guilford’s Mat Hennick (78-72-70-220) joined Ratner on the all-tournament team with a third-place finish, four shots off the lead in the 40-man field.

HEAD COACH COREY MAGGARD: Maggard became Guilford College’s first new men’s golf coach in 34 years in August 2010. The 2008 graduate of Transylvania (Ky.) University replaced Jack Jensen, who died suddenly in March 2010. Jensen, 71, served 45 years at Guilford, 33 as the Quakers’ golf coach.

Maggard received the ODAC’s inaugural Jack Jensen ODAC Coach of the Year Award in April after guiding the Quakers to the league title. Under his direction, Guilford spent most of the season ranked first in both the Golfstat.com Relative Rankings and Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll. In addition, four Quakers garnered All-ODAC recognition in 2010-11, including league Player of the Year Noah Ratner.

Maggard accepted his first head coaching position after two seasons as Transylvania’s assistant golf coach under Brian Lane. He was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2010 Golf Coaches Association of America Jan Strickland Award presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Coaches from all levels of college golf are eligible for the award, which is given annually to the assistant coach that, among other things, excels in working with student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.

With Maggard on staff, Transylvania won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) title and earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2009 and 2010. The Pioneers boasted the HCAC’s top golfer both seasons and totaled nine all-conference selections during Maggard’s coaching tenure.

As a student-athlete, Maggard lettered all four years under Lane and earned three All-HCAC commendations. He played on the Pioneers’ HCAC championship teams in 2007 and 2008, which yielded two NCAA Championships appearances. Maggard placed second in the 2006 HCAC Tournament and had third-place efforts as a junior and senior. He won the 2007 Anderson Spring Invitational and was ranked #138 among Division III golfers in the final 2008 Golfstat.com Head-to-Head Ratings. The London, Ky., resident also served four years on Transylvania’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and earned his degree in business management.

Maggard also spent almost four years as an assistant golf professional at the Man O’War Golf Learning Center in Lexington, Ky. He is a member of the PGA of America Apprentice Program and is a Titleist Performance Institute Certified Golf Professional. Maggard has also worked as golf operations assistant at the Gulf Stream Golf Club in Delray Beach, Fla., and at the London (Ky.) Country Club.

REMEMBERING JACK JENSEN: Unlike all but one of their previous NCAA Championships appearances, the Quakers are competing this year without longtime head coach Jack Jensen, who died suddenly March 28, 2010, after returning from the Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate tournament. 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.