CAPE CHARLES, Va. – Guilford College’s Noah Ratner (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) carded the low score (73) in Sunday’s opening round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Golf Championships, which helped the Quakers open an 11-stroke lead over the 10-team field.
Ratner, the two-time defending ODAC Player of the Year, shot a one-over-par 73 at the 6,997-yard Palmer Course at the Bay Creek Resort & Lodge. Despite windy conditions, he made the turn with a two-under 34 before finishing with a 39 on the back nine. The senior holds a two-stroke lead over Washington and Lee University freshman Teddy Corcoran, who shot 75 Sunday. Three students, including Guilford’s Travis Tolbert, sit three strokes off the pace after opening-round 76s. Tolbert recorded Sunday’s lone eagle with a three on the par-5 sixth hole.
The two-time defending champion Quakers placed four scorers among the top-nine finishers Sunday. After Ratner and Tolbert, sophomore Drew Thompson is sixth with a 77 and Dallas Page (Reidsville, N.C./Rockingham County (Averett)) is ninth with a 79. The Quakers’ Nick Shedd sits in 17th place after 18 holes after Sunday’s 82. Guilford’s opening round score of 305 is 11 strokes better than second-place Lynchburg College and Randolph-Macon College, which share second place at 316.
The winner of the ODAC Tournament earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The 54-hole tournament runs through Tuesday. Monday’s round begins at 11:05 a.m.