College Men’s Golf News – Guilford Ranked Sixth in Latest Golf World/Nike Golf Poll

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College’s men’s golf team slipped two spots to sixth place in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ Poll of the spring season released Monday. The rankings were made by members of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and included tournaments through April 16.

Illinois Wesleyan retains the top spot after receiving nine of 14 first-place votes. Oglethorpe jumped one spot to earn second place, yet they received zero first-place votes. Redlands, Methodist and Wittenberg each received at least one top rating and round out the top five. The only other school to receive a first-place vote was eighth-ranked St. John Fisher.

The Quakers tied for second in the Emory Spring Invitational, finishing behind fourth-ranked Methodist and tied with second-ranked Oglethorpe in the 14-team field. Guilford has recorded eight top-five finishes out of its nine competitions.

Freshman Tanner Gross (Archdale, N.C./Homeschooled) owns the team’s low scoring average (74.48) thanks to a third-place 70 in the Emory Spring Invitational. Freshman Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country Day) is not far behind Gross with a 75.32 stroke average over 19 rounds. Senior Dallas Page (Reidsville, N.C./Rockingham County (Averett)) (1594, 21 rounds) has a one-stroke lead over Drew Thompson (1595, 21 rounds) in the battle for third place among the team’s scoring leaders.

Fourth-year head coach Corey Maggard’s squad is ranked seventh in the latest Golfstat.com Division III Relative Rankings. The Quakers play a dual match with Greensboro College April 23. Guilford closes the regular season April 27-29 at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championships in Conover, N.C.

Along with the Greensboro Sports Commission, Guilford will co-host the 2014 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships May 13-16 at the Grandover Resort and Conference Center.

Apr. 21 Golf World/Nike Division III Coaches’ Poll

School (First-place votes)       Points   Last
1. Illinois Wesleyan (9)          339      1
2. Oglethorpe                     316      3
3. Redlands (2)                   307      2             
4. Methodist (1)                  297      7
5. Wittenberg (1)                 290      6
6. Guilford                       274      4
7. La Verne                       273      8
8. St. John Fisher                262      5
9. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps         220      9
10. LaGrange                      215     10
11. Transylvania                  202     11
12. Texas-Tyler                   197     12
13. Concordia (Texas)             163     13
14. California Lutheran           129     14
15. Southwestern                  125     22