College Golf News – Guilford Headed to 19th NCAA Division III Championship Tournament

GUILFORD’S BID: By virtue of its victory in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament April 23, Guilford College’s men’s golf team earned an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Championships. The full 41-team field was announced May 6 and contains 30 automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large selections. Five competitors will play as individuals, rounding out the 210-man field. The national championships will be held May 14-17, at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fla. Methodist University serves as the tournament host.

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 2013 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIELD: The Quakers met 14 of the other 40 teams in the field during the regular season and compiled a 16-18 record in those meetings. Guilford’s 2012-13 records versus the 14 teams are as follows: Emory (2-1), Greensboro (5-0), Illinois Wesleyan (0-2), Methodist (0-5), Oglethorpe (0-4), Otterbein (1-0), St. John Fisher (1-1), St. John’s (Minn.) (0-1), St. Thomas (Minn.) (1-1), Skidmore (1-1), Stevenson (1-0), Texas-Tyler (0-1), Transylvania (3-0), Wittenberg (1-1).

GUILFORD IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Guilford received its 19th NCAA Championships bid in 22 years of NCAA membership and fourth 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 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
2011    295      298      299      299      1191     9/40
2012    300      295      306      306      1207     11/41
* - 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 30 times in the last 37 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

   Name (Class, Hometown)                    Rounds   Avg.    Round    Best Finish (Score), Tournament, Dates
1. Noah Ratner (Sr., Asheville, N.C.)        23       73.04    65      1st (224), ODAC Championships, 4/21-23
2. Drew Thompson (So., Pickerington, Ohio)   23       74.87    66      2nd (229), ODAC Championships, 4/21-23
3. Dallas Page (Jr., Reidsville, N.C.)       17       76.18    68      T3rd (148), Ted Keller Memorial, 10/6-7
4. Nick Shedd (So., Williamsburg, Va.)       23       76.57    69      3rd (71), Pine Needles Intercollegiate, 2/25
5. Travis Tolbert (So., Titusville, Fla.)    20       77.15    70      T4th (72), Pine Needles Intercollegiate, 2/25

QUAKER NOTES: The Quakers are ranked sixth in Golfstat’s May 6 Division III Relative Rankings with a 269-6 comparative record, including an 8-5 mark against top-25 clubs. Oglethorpe is ranked first… Guilford ranks sixth nationally in birdies (151), seventh in average score (75.81), eighth in par-four scoring (4.29) and eighth versus par (4.33) according to the May 6 Golfstat Statistics Rankings… Guilford’s 298.52 team stroke average stands eighth in school history… the Quakers are ranked sixth in the May 6 Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll.

LAST TIME OUT: Guilford won its league-record 13th ODAC Championship Apr. 21-23 at the Bay Creek Golf Resort in Cape Charles, Va. The Quakers, who won their third straight league crown, finished 23 strokes ahead of second-place Randolph-Macon College. Guilford shot 305-320-289-914 in the weather-addled tourney. The victory marked the Quakers’ third of the year and gives Guilford seven top-six finishes in 10 tournaments.

Senior Noah Ratner captured his school-record-tying fifth career medalist honor by leading the 50-man field from start to finish. He shot 73-81-70-224 to become Guilford’s first ODAC Tournament medalist since Peter Latimer ’10 won the 2009 event. Teammates Drew Thompson and Dallas Page joined Ratner on the all-tournament team. Thompson’s 77-81-71-229 placed second in the field and Page finished fifth with a 79-80-73-232. All five Guilford students placed among the field’s top-15 finishers.

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 has received the ODAC’s first three Jack Jensen ODAC Coach of the Year Awards from 2011-13 after guiding the Quakers to the league title in each season. Guilford has won 13 tournament crowns under Maggard’s watch and spent most of his first two seasons ranked first in both the Golfstat.com Relative Rankings and Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll. In addition, 13 Quakers have garnered All-ODAC recognition in his tenure, including three-time league Player of the Year Noah Ratner ’13. Ratner also earned the Golf Coaches’ Association’s 2012 Jack Nicklaus Award as Division III’s top player, as well as First Team PING All-America honors in 2011 and 2012.

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 spent almost four years as an assistant golf professional at the Man O’War Golf Learning Center in Lexington, Ky. He works each summer at the Jerry Haas University Wake Forest University Golf Camp and is a Level Two 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.

Student Profiles
Dallas Page (Jr., Reidsville, N.C.) – 76.18 average in 17 rounds, which ranks fifth in the ODAC… Second Team All-ODAC… ranks 97th in the 2012-13 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head player standings… started the season playing as an individual, but broke into the starting five in the final fall event and hasn’t left… tied for third at the Ted Keller Memorial Oct. 6-7, his best finish of the season… shot a season-low 148 there and in his varsity debut at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate, which featured a round of 69… earned a spot on the All-ODAC Tournament team with a fifth-place finish at the league championships.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: first appearance.

Noah Ratner (Sr., Asheville, N.C.) – Guilford’s top player all season… 73.04 stroke average in 23 rounds stands fifth in school history for single-season stroke average and first in the ODAC… has four subpar rounds… ranked sixth in Golfstat’s Division III average score list (73.04) and ninth versus par (1.57)… ranks eighth in the 2012-13 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head player standings… captured medalist honors at the ODAC Championships, which gives him five individual college titles and ties Peter Latimer’s ’10 school record… won the Golf Coaches Association of America 2012 Jack Nicklaus Award as NCAA Division III’s top player… named ODAC Golfer of the Year and was a First Team All-ODAC selection (2013, 2012, 2011)… ODAC Rookie of the Year and earned All-ODAC First Team honors in 2010… ODAC Golfer of the Week four times this season and 14 times in his career… two-time PING First Team All-American… named to the PING All-Freshman team in 2010.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: 2012 (296-T12), 2011 (292-T11), 2010 (302-T42).

Nick Shedd (So., Williamsburg, Va.) – 76.57 average in 23 rounds, which ranks ninth in the ODAC… First Team All-ODAC… ranks 118th in the 2012-13 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head player standings… voted the ODAC’s Golf Scholar-Athlete by the league’s sports information directors… has three subpar rounds… has four top-12 results in 10 tournaments… placed third at the rain-shortened Pine Needles Intercollegiate with a round of 71… led the Quakers with a ninth-place finish at the Gordin Classic by shooting 76-69-73-218.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: 2012 (309-T57).

Drew Thompson (So., Pickerington, Ohio) – 74.87 average in 23 rounds stands second in the ODAC… ranks 41st in the Golfstat Head-to-Head player standings… has three subpar rounds and four top-10 finishes… best result came at the ODAC Championships where he shot 77-81-71-229 to place second… shot a career-low 66 at the Marine Federal Credit Union Intercollegiate on the way to a fourth-place finish (70-66-76-212 ) in the 160-man field… earned First Team All-ODAC honors for the second straight season… two-time ODAC Player of the Week… ranked 14th nationally with 61 birdies this season.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: 2012 (305-T47).

Travis Tolbert (So., Titusville, Fla.) – Averages 77.15 strokes in 23 rounds, which ranks 11th in the ODAC… Third Team All-ODAC… ranks 132nd in the 2012-13 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head player standings… shared fourth place at the rain-shortened Pine Needles Intercollegiate with a 72… placed sixth at the Ted Keller Memorial (77-72-149)… best spring performance was 15th place at the ODAC Championships (76-90-75-241).

NCAA Division III Championships Results: first appearance.

GUILFORD TO CO-HOST NEXT TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS: Guilford College and the Greensboro Sports Commission were named co-hosts of the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro. The dates of the 2014 tournament are May 13-16. The 2015 tournament is set for May 12-15. Grandover is the first site to host the 41-team, 210-student event in successive years. The two organizations and the NCAA also hosted the event in 2011.

One thought on “College Golf News – Guilford Headed to 19th NCAA Division III Championship Tournament

  1. Congrats to the Guilford Golf team, And all the other teams frm guilford to Make playoffs, Well except Basball.

Comments are closed.