College Men’s Golf Results – Guilford Wins League-Record 17th ODAC Title

BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. – Guilford College won its league-record 17th Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Golf Championship Monday at Bryan Park. Coach Justin Tereshko’s Quakers shot one-under par 863 as a team, the event’s lowest score since the league adopted a 54-hole format in 2007.

Guilford College 2018 ODAC Men's Golf Champions

With their sixth ODAC Tournament win in seven years, the Quakers earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. Guilford will make its league-record 23rd NCAA Championships appearance May 15-18 at Grandover Resort in Greensboro.

Rookie Addison Manring (Stoneville, N.C./McMichael) became the Quakers’ 15th ODAC Tournament medalist by shooting four-under-par 212 over 54 holes. Guilford’s sixth ODAC medalist in seven years, Manring held off teammates Kell Graham (214) and 2016 league titlist Josh Hill (216) for top individual honors. Quakers occupied the leaderboard’s top-three spots for the record fourth time in the event’s history, the first time since 2015.

Guilford shot 289 in Sunday’s opening round to open a six-stroke lead over Hampden-Sydney College. With heavy rains in the forecast, league officials altered the schedule and took measures to increase the pace of play to accommodate the remaining 36 holes Monday. The Tigers drew within a couple strokes of Guilford in the second round before the Quakers pulled away with a 292 that opened an eight-shot edge after 36 holes. As the winds picked up and rain fell, Guilford dropped the hammer and finished with its second-lowest round of the season, a six-under 282, the 12th-lowest in school history.

Washington and Lee University (896) held off Virginia Wesleyan University (897) and Hampden-Sydney (898) for second place in the 11-team field. The Quakers’ 33-stroke victory margin stands second in league history only to Guilford’s 39-stroke win in the 2004 Championships.

Manring, who played just six varsity rounds before Sunday, is Guilford’s first freshman ODAC Tournament medalist since Tanner Gross in 2014. Manring earned his ODAC Tournament spot with a hot week of qualifying and carried the momentum onto the par-72, 6,895-yard Champions Course layout in northeast Guilford County. He shot a one-over 73 in Sunday’s opening round but started his second round with a birdie before holing his second shot on the 482-yard third hole for a rare albatross on the par-five layout. Manring finished with a second-round 68, the lowest of his brief college career, and held off his teammates with a final-round 71.

Graham, a late replacement for an ill teammate, shot 74 Sunday followed by an even-par 72 in Monday’s opening round. The sophomore saved his best for last with a career-low 68 in the final round. Playing through intermittent wind and showers, Graham drained eight birdies and finished with a three-round 214 for his second-straight ODAC runner-up finish. Hill started Monday with a one-shot lead after an opening-round 70 but shot 75 in the second round before firing a one-under-71 and posting his second straight 54-hole tournament score of 216.

Washington and Lee’s Sean Puleo (217), Hampden-Sydney’s Bruce Shober (218), and Virginia Wesleyan’s Keith Cooper (221) rounded out the top-six individuals, which constituted the all-tournament team.

Guilford’s James Mishoe (74-77-72-223) and Zach Evens (72-78-74-224) placed eighth and 10th, respectively.

The Quakers turn their attention to final exams before resuming practice in advance of the Division III Championships. The full 42-team and six-individual field will be announced May 7 on NCAA.com. Guilford, which co-hosts this year’s championships with the Greensboro Sports Commission, placed second at the 2017 national tourney and won the Division III crown in 2002 and 2005.