PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Guilford College’s men’s golf team shot a 16-over-par 304 in Sunday’s third and final round to place 11th in the NCAA Division III Fall Preview Tournament.
Ten of the nation’s top-12 teams ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek Division III Coaches’ Poll participated in the 54-hole tourney on the par-72, 6,902-yard Champions Course at the PGA National Resort. The resort is the site of the 2020 Division III Men’s Golf Championships, as well as the Honda Classic on the Professional Golf Association Tour.
Emory University shot a three-under 285 Sunday to clinch top honors in the 18-team field. The Eagles defeated 36-hole leader and defending Division III champ Illinois Wesleyan University by seven shots. The Titans started Sunday with a two-stroke lead, but could not keep pace with Emory’s low round of the tournament. Huntingdon College shot 296-306-289-891 and placed third, followed by the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) (898) and Guilford’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival Washington and Lee University (907).
The Quakers failed to break 303 in their first tournament of the season. Guilford shot 313-303-304-920, one stroke behind Methodist University. Senior Zach Evens led Guilford Sunday with a one-over 73, which lifted him 12 spots in the 90-man field to a share of 31st place at 77-79-73-229. Teammate James Mishoe started Sunday’s round in 12th place, but shot his second round of 78 and ended in a tie for 23rd at 78-71-78-227. Guilford junior Addison Manring carded the Quakers’ second-lowest round Sunday to finish in a share of 38th place at 77-78-75-230. Louis Lambert (237, T59) and Kell Graham (238, T61) rounded out Guilford’s contestants.
Huntingdon’s Drew Mathers delivered the low round of the tournament Sunday with a six-under 66 that gave him the individual title by four strokes over St. Thomas’ Emmet Herb. Mathers shot 70-74-66-210 (-6) while Herb fired a 73-71-70-214. Emory’s Eric Yiu and Berry College’s Blake Farbman shared third place at 216.
Coach Adam Crawford’s Quakers return to action at the Gordin Classic in Columbus, Ohio, September 30-October 1. Guilford is ranked fourth in the current Bushnell/Golfweek Division III Poll.