GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College’s men’s golf team opens the season in fifth place in the first NCAA Division III Golf World/Nike Golf and Golf Coaches Association of America Coaches’ Poll released Monday. Oglethorpe University, the defending national champion, is the number-one team in the poll. The Stormy Petrels earned 12 of the 16 first-place votes. Methodist University ranks second with 374 points and four first-place votes. Transylvania University and the University of Redlands round out the top four. Guilford shares the fifth spot with the University of Texas-Tyler.
The Quakers return four members from last year’s team that placed 11th at the NCAA Championships, including senior Noah Ratner (Asheville, N.C./Asheville), the defending Division III Player of the Year. Ratner is coming off a memorable season that saw him receive the Jack Nicklaus Award from the Golf Coaches Association of America as Division III’s top player. He also earned First Team All-America and All-Nicklaus Team honors. Ratner repeated as the ODAC’s Player of the Year and held the loop’s best individual stroke average at 72.73.
Third-year head coach Corey Maggard’s squad opens the season Oct. 1-2 at the Gordin Classic in Columbus, Ohio.
Sept. 3 Golf World/Nike Division III Coaches’ Poll
Rank School (First-place votes) Points 2011 NCAA Finish 1. Ogelthorpe (12) 392 1 2. Methodist (4) 374 3 3. Transylvania 331 2 4. Redlands 305 5 5. Guilford 274 11 5. Texas Tyler 274 6 7. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 250 4 7. Illinois Wesleyan 250 9 7. St. John Fisher 250 T7 10. Greensboro 246 T12