Tournament Town Championship Preview to Feature Impressive Field

TOURNAMENT TOWN CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW TO FEATURE IMPRESSIVE FIELD

Three North Carolina teams among the top contenders at this high level collegiate event

GREENSBORO, NC. — Eight of the ‘Top Ten’ men’s golf teams ranked in the Bushnell Golfweek NCAA III Coaches Pre-Season Poll will compete in the 54-hole Tournament Town Championship Preview at Grandover Resort September 24-25. The powerhouse field includes defending national champion Wittenberg University (OH) as well as pre-season favorite Texas Tyler (TX) who recently finished 2nd behind #7 Emory University (GA) in their only action of the fall. Nineteen underclassmen who finished in the ‘Top 50’ last season in the Golfstat NCAA Head-To-Head Player Standings are expected to lead their teams at this preview event at Grandover Resort, which will be the host site for the NCAA III Men’s Golf National Championship May 15-18, 2018.

A PEEK AT THE TOP RANKED TEAMS…..

Pre-season #1 University of Texas Tyler’s seniors Sam Hill and DJ Godoy both recorded top-10 finishes to help lead the Patriots to a runner-up team finish at the Rhodes College Fall Classic which was played at Tunica National. The Patriots had their best round of the 54-hole tournament on the final day by shooting a 283 (5-under) and finished the season-opening event with a 292-287-283 – 862 for second place. #7 Emory University won the tournament by seven strokes with a three-round total of 283-285-287 – 855.

Defending national champions and #2 ranked Wittenberg University (OH), which also finished 3rd in the NCAA’s in 2015 and 2016, recorded their first tournament win of the year in leading wire-to-wire at the Guy and Jeanne Kuhn Memorial Invitational. As a team, the Tigers carded a two-day score of 605 (+29). Junior Colin Laszlo ended round one with the individual lead, as the Hawaii native finished with a two under 70, while carding a 74 on day two. Freshman Daniel Castleberry fired off rounds of back to back 72 to finish even for the weekend, as he and Laszlo tied for second place individually. Wittenberg also competed in the Transylvania Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky. The Tigers came in fifth as a team, firing a two-day score of 584 (+8), behind Kenyon College, Ohio Wesleyan, #4 Guilford College and #6 Greensboro College. Laszlo carded the best two-round score for the Tigers, shooting a 73 and 71 to finish even for the tournament, good enough for T11.

#3 Methodist University (NC) has yet to compete in a fall tournament but as one of the premier golf programs in the country with 11 national titles, the Monarch’s are expected to simply reload after graduating three of the five players who helped the Monarchs to a 7th place finish at the NCAA Championships last spring. They are expected to be led by seniors Jared Chinn (Fayetteville, NC) and Aaron Purviance (Winston-Salem, NC). Head Coach Steve Conley is a 6 time NCAA III National Coach of the Year and the youngest coach ever inducted into the GCAA Hall of Fame.

LOCALLY SPEAKING………

#4 Guilford College, who finished as national runner-up last season, has already raised eyebrows in winning its first two tournaments this season, the Transylvania Invitational and the Tom Kinder Memorial. At the Kinder Memorial, Guilford set the tournament record with a 36-hole score of 560, which was 16 under par. Sophomore Zachary Evens and Junior Josh Hill have won two of the three Old Dominion Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week Awards distributed this season. The Quakers have scored under par in three of the four rounds they’ve played to date. The lone senior on the 5-man squad is High Point (NC) native Harrison Frye. Guilford also recorded NCAA III Men’s Golf national titles in 2002 and 2005.

#6 Greensboro College, which finished tied for 4th at last spring’s NCAA national championship, turned in a second-place performance behind Guilford at the Transylvania Invitational. Sophomore Grant Powell (Colfax, NC), who was the 2017 GCAA Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award winner last May, won co-medalist honors, carding a first round 2-under-par and a team best 4-under-par 68 the following day to finish the 36-hole event at six-under par. Senior Levi Grogan (Canton, NC) carded a 1-under-par on Sunday to finish the event in a fifth-place tie, three strokes behind his Pride teammate. Levi’s twin brother Luke Grogan finished the tournament with an even-par 144, after shooting back-to-back even par rounds of 72. Scott Campbell (Kernersville, NC) and Austin Coble (Greensboro, NC) also competed for The Pride.
Click this link http://greensborosports.org/2017-tournament-town-championship-preview to access brief bios of each of the 18 teams participating in the Tournament Town Championship Preview.

About The Greensboro Sports Commission

Founded in 1989, the Greensboro Sports Commission (GSC) was created to foster economic development through coordinating and developing Greensboro’s role as a leading site for sports events involving youth, collegiate, amateur and professional organizations. As a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, the GSC serves as clearinghouse in supporting event rights holders as well as local facility owners in the hosting of Tournament Town sporting events. The GSC also maintains important liaison roles with key support groups such as the Greensboro Sports Council, the Tournament Host of Greensboro, Inc., and the North Carolina Sports Association.

Bushnell Golfweek Division III Coaches Poll – Preseason
(Highlights indicate Tournament Town Preview Participants)

Rank University (First-Place Votes) Points NCAA Finals Finish
1    UT Tyler   (3)                 379    3

2    Wittenberg (6)                 367    Champion

3    Methodist (1)                  351    7

4    Guilford                       347    2

5    Huntingdon (5)                 346    T4

6    Greensboro                     309    T4

7    Emory      (1)                 289    T12

8    Rhodes                         276    8

9    Illinois Wesleyan              260    9

10   Claremont-Mudd-Scripps         246    T12

11   Oglethorpe (1)                 242    Missed Cut

12   Mary Hardin-Baylor             237    11

13   Hope                           231    6

14   LaGrange                       204    10

15   Washington & Lee               195    14

16   Saint John's (MN)              164    15

17   Berry                          103    DNQ

18   Concordia (TX)                  94    Missed Cut

19   La Verne                        85    DNQ

20   Gustavus Adolphus               82    DNQ

21   Skidmore                        77    DNQ

22   Williams                        56    16

23   Christopher Newport             55    Missed Cut

24   St. Thomas (MN)                 48    DNQ

25   Sewanee                         45    DNQ

Others Receiving Votes: Transylvania, 42; St. John Fisher, 41; Redlands, 36; Pacific Lutheran, 31; Webster, 30; Rochester, 27; Centre, 26; Hampden-Sydney, 25; Carnegie Mellon, 22; Ohio Wesleyan, 19; Southwestern (TX), 17; California Lutheran, 15; Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 13; Kenyon, 12; Trinity (TX), 11; Schreiner, 9; Birmingham-Southern, 7; Piedmont, 7; Augsburg, 6; Rutgers-Camden, 6; McDaniel, 5; Allegheny, 4; Franklin & Marshall, 4; NYU, 4; Otterbein, 4; Trinity (CT), 3; Wisconsin Lutheran, 3; Manhattanville, 2; Middlebury, 2; Babson, 1; Calvin, 1; Ferrum, 1; St. Norbert, 1