College Men’s Golf Results – Guilford Sixth After 18 Holes of Division III Championships

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – Guilford College shot 296 to claim sixth place after Tuesday’s opening round of the 42-team NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships at the Keene Trace Golf Club.

The Quakers posted Tuesday’s low score on the par-72, 7,190-yard Champion Trace Course. The five teams ahead of them, including first-round leader Illinois Wesleyan University (287), played the par-72, 6.897-yard Keene Run Course.

Guilford and the other 20 squads that played Champion Trace Tuesday will play Keene Run in Wednesday’s second round. The other 21 teams and six individuals will play Champion Trace, after which the field will be trimmed to 18 teams and the top-six individuals not on one of those teams. Those making the cut play the third and fourth rounds on Champion Trace Thursday and Friday to determine the national team and individual champions.

The Quakers, ranked sixth in the current Golfstat.com Division III Rankings and Bushnell Golfweek Division III Poll, made 18 birdies Tuesday, tops on either course. Guilford started its round on the 10th hole and made the turn at two-under par as James Mishoe (-2), Josh Hill (-1), and Addison Manring (E) each shot par or better through the first nine holes. The back nine proved more challenging as Guilford played the last four holes eight-over as a team.

Hill and Manring both finished at one-over 73 and share 20th place among individuals. Hill had five first-round birdies and was three-under after 13 holes. He faltered down the stretch with three bogeys and a double over the final five holes. Manring played a bit more consistently and made birdies on seven and eight to get to one-under after 17 holes. He ended with a double-bogey six to finish with a 73.

Teammates Jack Lee and James Mishoe both carded three-over 75 in their first round and are in a group tied for 41st place among individuals. Unlike his teammates, Lee had more success on the front nine, which he played even, despite a double-bogey six on eight. Mishoe, Golfstat.com’s top-ranked NCAA Division III golfer, birdied the 171-yard seventh hole, but finished with a double-bogey on eight and a triple-bogey seven on nine to settle at 75. He played the first 11 holes at two-under par.

Guilford’s Louis Lambert, who along with Lee, made his NCAA Tournament debut, was one-over after nine holes, but shot seven-over on the back nine for an eight-over 80, which sits 123rd in the field.

Illinois Wesleyan shot Tuesday’s lone subpar team score with a one-under 287 on the Keene Run Course. The third-ranked Titans had three scorers shoot even or under par, including Drew Pershing, who’s two-under 70 shares second place among the 216 individuals. Concordia (Texas) University is one shot off the lead at 288, followed by Trinity (Conn.) College (290), 17th-ranked Oglethorpe University (295) and number-four Wittenberg University (295).

Williams College’s Sam Goldenring, one of six individuals in field, played a bogey-free round with three birdies. His three-under 69 on the Keene Run Course tops the individual leaderboard. Huntingdon College’s Drew Mathers, the second-ranked Division III golfer according to Golfstat.com, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges’ Mason Chu carded Champion Trace’s low score (70). They share second place among individuals with Illinois Wesleyan’s Pershing and Concordia’s Phillip Schmitz.

Coach Adam Crawford’s Quakers tee off Wednesday starting at 12:50 p.m. (CDT) from the first hole on Keene Run.

Guilford won the Division III Championships in 2002 and 2005 and has three second-place finishes in the event, most recently in 2017.