WINTERGREEN, Va. – Guilford College junior Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country day) shot one-under-par 71 Sunday to help the Quakers open a five-stroke lead at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Golf Championships.
Palmer and Virginia Wesleyan College’s Evan Cox both shot 71 on the par-72, 6,910-yard Monacan and Shamokin layouts of the Stoney Creek Golf Course. The pair holds a one-stroke advantage over Guilford’s Tommy Schick and Washington and Lee University’s Luke Farley in the 50-man field. Palmer made the turn at one-under and dipped to three under after birdies on the 13th and 14th holes. Bogeys on 15 and 17 brought him back to one under. Cox was two under after 14, but bogeys sandwiched around a birdie on 17 left him at 71.
Palmer and Schick helped the five-time defending tournament champion Quakers shoot 297 (+9), five shots better than Virginia Wesleyan (302) and seven strokes in front of third-place Washington and Lee (304) in the 10-team field. Guilford’s Justin Perdue is tied for ninth place after a first-round 76, two strokes ahead of teammate Josh Hill, who carded a 78 and shares 15th place among individuals. The Quakers totaled a round-best 15 birdies as a team, five by Schick, tops among all 50 contestants.
Hampden-Sydney College (312) and Bridgewater College (315) round out the top-five team leaders.
Winners of a league-record 15 ODAC titles, Guilford is ranked 17th in the latest NCAA Division III Head-to-Head Ratings according to Golfstat.com, four spots ahead of Washington and Lee and 15 slots higher than Virginia Wesleyan. The Quakers are ranked 15th in the current Bushnell Golfweek Division III Coaches’ Poll.
The second of the tournament’s three 18-hole rounds is Monday (4/25).