GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College’s men’s golf team climbed two spots to fourth place in the second Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll of the spring season. The rankings were made by members of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and included tournaments through March 20.
Illinois Wesleyan College took over the top spot from Wittenberg College, which slipped to sixth in the new poll. Illinois Wesleyan won the 30-team Jekyll Island Intercollegiate where it knocked off many ranked teams. The Titans and second-place Redlands University both earned seven first-place votes. Oglethorpe University moved from fourth place into third, 11 points ahead of Guilford. St. John Fisher College retained fifth place.
The Quakers are coming off a fourth-place finish at the 32-team Marine Federal Credit Union Intercollegiate Championship March 28-30 in Camp Lejeune, N.C. Oglethorpe won the team title for the second straight season. Seventh-ranked Methodist University shared second place with NAIA Thomas University, three strokes in front of Guilford.
Freshman Tanner Gross (Archdale, N.C./Homeschool) owns the Quakers’ low scoring average (74.70) and is followed by classmate Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country Day), who has a 75.33 average in 18 rounds. Senior Dallas Page (Reidsville, N.C./Rockingham County (Averett)) (1516, 20 rounds) has a four-stroke lead over junior Drew Thompson (1520, 20 rounds) in the battle for third place among the team’s scoring leaders.
Fourth-year head coach Corey Maggard’s squad is ranked eighth in the latest Golfstat.com Division III Relative Rankings. The Quakers are back in action April 7-8 at the Emory Spring Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.
Along with the Greensboro Sports Commission, Guilford will co-host many of the top-ranked Division III golf teams May 13-16 at the NCAA Division III Championships at the Grandover Resort and Conference Center.
Mar. 31 Golf World/Nike Division III Coaches’ Poll
School (First-place votes) Points Last 1. Illinois Wesleyan (7) 372 8 2. Redlands (7) 367 3 3. Oglethorpe 351 4 4. Guilford 340 6 5. St. John Fisher (1) 330 5 6. Wittenberg (1) 326 1 7. Methodist 311 11 8. La Verne 274 T9 9. Claremont-Mudd Scripps 280 2 10. LaGrange 240 7