College Men’s Golf News – Guilford NCAA Division III Championships Preview

GUILFORD COLLEGE EARNS BID TO NCAA DIVISION III GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

GUILFORD’S BID: By virtue of its victory in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament April 21, Guilford College’s men’s golf team earned an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships. The full 41-team field was announced May 4 and contains 30 automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large selections. Five competitors will play as individuals, rounding out the 210-man field. The national championships return to the Grandover Resort and Conference Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the second straight season and for the third time in five years. Guilford and the Greensboro Sports Commission serve as the tournament hosts.

The team and individual champions will be determined after 72 holes of play or the conclusion of the last fully completed round. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the top-15 teams and top-five individuals not on one of those teams.

GUILFORD VS. THE 2015 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FIELD: The Quakers met 16 of the other 40 teams in the field during the regular season and compiled a 24-26-2 record in those meetings. Guilford’s 2014-15 records versus the 16 teams are as follows: Berry (5-2), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (0-1), Illinois Wesleyan (0-3), La Verne (1-0), LaGrange (1-5-1), Methodist (1-5-1), Oglethorpe (3-3), Rhodes (3-2), St. John Fisher (2-1), St. Thomas (Minn.) 0-1, Schreiner (0-1), Southwestern (Texas) (1-0), Spalding (1-0), Texas-Tyler (1-1), Transylvania (4-0), Wittenberg (1-1).

GUILFORD IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Guilford received its 21st NCAA Championships bid in 24 years of NCAA membership and sixth in as many years. The Quakers won their second national title in four years in 2005 with a 25-stroke triumph over the University of Redlands at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. Guilford captured the 2002 NCAA Championship with a six-stroke victory over Greensboro College at the Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb. The title marked the program’s first NCAA Division III title in any sport. The Quakers qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in seven consecutive years after leaving the NAIA ranks in 1991.

GUILFORD IN THE POSTSEASON: As seen by their NCAA Championships experience, the Quakers are no strangers to postseason competition. Guilford ranked among the elite NAIA men’s golf programs during its affiliation with the organization and won the 1989 NAIA national championship.

Guilford teams have qualified for national playoff competition 32 times in the last 39 years. The Quakers recorded top-six finishes in 10 NAIA National Tournaments from 1979-1990, including runner-up performances in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Guilford placed second in the 2010 NCAA Division III Championships by one stroke to Methodist University and second in the 2001 NCAA Division III Championships by one stroke to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

GUILFORD’S LINEUP

			Low
Name (Class, Hometown)                      Rounds  Avg.   Round  Best Finish (Score), Tournament, Dates
1. Drew Thompson (Sr., Pickerington, Ohio)    22    73.45    69   1st (142), ODAC Championships, 4/20-21
2. Ty Palmer (So., Kernersville, N.C.)        22    74.36    66   1st (206), Gordin Classic, 9/29-10/1
3. Tanner Gross (So., Archdale, N.C.)         23    75.70    71   T8th (219), Tournament Town Preview, 9/21-22
4. Harrison Frye (Fr., High Point, N.C.)      23    75.43    69   T2nd (142), Wynlakes Intercollegiate, 3/30-31
5. Henry Smith (Sr., Edgartown, Mass.)         9    78.67    75   T26th (157), ODAC Championships, 4/20-21	

QUAKER NOTES: The Quakers are ranked 11th in Golfstat’s May 1 Division III Relative Rankings with a 264-10 comparative record, including an 11-8 mark against top-25 clubs. Redlands is ranked first… Guilford ranks fifth nationally in eagles (13), ninth in par-three scoring (3.26), 13th in average score (75.54), 13th versus par (+3.89), 15th in par-five scoring (4.98), and 16th in par-four scoring (4.29) according to the May 4 Golfstat Statistics Rankings… Guilford’s 297.83 team stroke average stands fourth in school history… the Quakers are ranked 10th in the April 27 Bushnell/Golfweek Division III Coaches’ Poll.

LAST TIME OUT: Guilford won its league-record 15th ODAC Championship Apr. 20-21 at the Rock Barn Resort and Spa in Conover, N.C. The Quakers, who won their fifth straight league crown, finished 14 strokes ahead of second-place Washington and Lee University. Guilford shot 293-288-581 in the tourney, which was shortened from 54 to 36 holes due to inclement weather. The victory marked the Quakers’ second of the year and gives Guilford seven top-six finishes in 10 tournaments.

Senior Drew Thompson captured his first career medalist honor by winning the individual medalist title by two shots over teammates Harrison Frye and Ty Palmer. Thompson shot 71-71-142 to become Guilford’s third straight ODAC Tournament medalist. Frye and Palmer joined Thompson on the all-tournament team. Frye’s 72-72-144 placed second in the field, a position he shared with Palmer , who shot 75-69-142. All five Guilford students placed among the 50-man field’s top-26 finishers.

HEAD COACH JUSTIN TERESHKO: Justin Tereshko joined Guilford’s athletics staff as the Quakers’ head men’s golf coach this past September. He replaced Corey Maggard, who resigned to become assistant men’s golf coach at NCAA Division I Auburn University.

Tereshko spent most of the 2013 and 2014 seasons as the men’s and women’s assistant golf coach at DePauw University under Vince Lazar. With Tereshko on staff, DePauw placed eighth at the 2013 and 2014 Division III Women’s Golf Championships and won two North Coast Athletic Conference titles. The Tigers’ Paige Gooch earned First Team All-America honors from the Women’s Golf Coaches’ Association and was one of three DePauw students tabbed as 2014 all-region selections.

After graduating from Transylvania University in 2012 with an exercise science degree, Tereshko spent the fall season as interim head men’s golf coach and head women’s golf coach at Huntingdon (Ala.) College.

Like his predecessor at Guilford, Tereshko was an accomplished golfer at Transylvania under head coach Brian Lane. (Maggard was a Transylvania assistant coach for Tereshko’s first two years at the Kentucky school.) A two-time PING NCAA Division III All-American, Tereshko helped the Pioneers to second place in the 2012 Division III Championships, the best of Tereshko’s four NCAA appearances. He also ranked among Division III’s top-five statistical leaders in five categories that season, including stroke average. Transylvania won four Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament titles in Tereshko’s tenure, including in 2012 when he won medalist honors and was named the league’s player of the year.

Tereshko remains a competitive golfer and reached the Round of 32 at the 2014 United States Amateur Championship. After placing 24th in two rounds of stroke play, the Madison, Indiana, native won his first match-play contest before falling to Jimmy Mullen in 23 holes. Tereshko placed sixth at the 2014 Indiana Amateur Championship.

Student Profiles
Harrison Frye (Fr., High Point, N.C.) – 75.43 average in 23 rounds, which ranks fifth in the ODAC… has two subpar rounds and two even-par rounds… Second Team All-ODAC… ranks 69th in the 2014-15 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head player standings… tied for second at the ODAC Tournament April 20-21, matching his best finish of the season… earned a spot on the All-ODAC Tournament team with a second-place finish… also placed second at the Wynlakes Intercollegiate with a season-best 69-73-142, which helped him win ODAC Gofler of the Week honors.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: first appearance.

Tanner Gross (So., Archdale, N.C.) – 75.70 stroke average in 23 rounds stands 52nd in school history for single-season stroke average and seventh in the ODAC… has one subpar round and four even-par rounds… ranks 71st in the 2014-15 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head Player Standings… has four top-15 finishes… Second Team All-ODAC honoree… placed eighth at the 2014 Tournament Town Preview at Grandover (70-75-76-221)… won the Golf Coaches Association of America’s (GCAA) 2014 Phil Mickelson Award as the top NCAA Division III Freshman Golfer… PING Second Team All-American… PING First Team All-South… 2013-14 ODAC Rookie of the Year… 2013-14 First Team All-ODAC selection… has four career ODAC Golfer of the Week honors, once this season.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: 2014 (151-T70).

Ty Palmer (So., Kernersville, N.C.) – Averages 74.36 strokes in 22 rounds, which ranks third in the ODAC… First Team All-ODAC (2015, 2014)… ranks 41st in the 2014-15 Golfstat Division III Head-to-Head Player Standings… has four subpar rounds, including consecutive rounds of career-low 66 at the Gordin Classic Sept. 29-Oct. 1 where he won medalist honors… has five top-7 finishes… three-time ODAC Golfer of the Week this year… shared second place at the 2015 ODAC Championships with a 75-69-144, which earned all-tournament honors for the second straight year… placed sixth at the Wynlakes Intercollegiate (72-70-142)… 2014 PING All-South pick.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: 2014 (73-82-155-T108).

Henry Smith (Sr., Edgartown, Mass.) – 78.67 average in nine rounds… won the Quakers’ volatile number-five position late in the season… shot 67 in a junior varsity dual match at Grandover with Wartburg College to clinch the final spot on Guilford’s ODAC Tournament entry… played either as an individual or on a ‘B’ team in each of his previous four appearances this season… broke into the top-five for just the second time in his career at the 2015 ODAC Championships where he shared 26th place with a 75-82-157… shot 235 over 54 holes for a piece of 53rd place at the 2012 Gordin Classic, his first and only other outing as part of the top five.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: first appearance.

Drew Thompson (Sr., Pickerington, Ohio) – 73.45 average in 22 rounds leads the ODAC… ranks 22nd in the Golfstat Head-to-Head Player Standings… has a team-high six subpar rounds and six top-12 finishes… ODAC Golfer of the Year… shot 71-71-142 (-2) at the ODAC Championships for his first college win and all-tournament honors… First Team All-ODAC (2012, 2013, 2015)… Second Team All-ODAC (2014)… fired a career-low 69 at Wynlakes Intercollegiate, but was disqualified in the first round for signing for an incorrect school due to an incorrect on-course ruling… 2013 PING Third Team All-American… won 2015 Guilford’s prestigious Nereus C. English Athletic Leadership Award, the school’s top athletics honor.

NCAA Division III Championships Results: 2014 (153-T90), 2013 (154-T69), 2012 (305-T47).

GUILFORD TO CO-HOST UPCOMING CHAMPIONSHIP: Guilford College and the Greensboro Sports Commission are co-hosting the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro for the second straight season and for the third time in five years. The two also hosted the 2011 event at Grandover, the first site to host the 41-team, 210-student event in successive years. The two organizations will do so again in 2018.