NORMAN, Okla. – Guilford College’s men’s golf team moved up to 10th place in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Division III Coaches’ Poll released Monday. The rankings were made by members of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and included tournaments through April 17.
Oglethorpe University retained the top spot after receiving four of 13 first-place votes. LaGrange College maintained second place and also received four first-place votes. The University of Redlands, Methodist University, and Illinois Wesleyan University round out the top five. Redlands earned five top nominations.
The Quakers are coming off their second tournament win of the year, their fifth straight Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championship and 15th overall league crown. Guilford outdistanced Washington and Lee University April 20-21 by 14 strokes in the 10-team field. Senior Drew Thompson shot 71-71-142 to post his first college win and become Guilford’s 14th ODAC Championship medalist. Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country) and Harrison Frye (High Point, N.C./High Point) shared second place in the 50-man field with even-par scores of 144. Sophomore Tanner Gross (Archdale, N.C./Homeschooled) shot 75-76-151 and shared ninth place.
Thompson, the 2014-15 ODAC Men’s Golfer of the Year, owns the team’s low scoring average of 73.45. Palmer, a fellow First Team All-ODAC selection, closely follows with a 74.36 average. Frye (75.43) has a slim edge over Gross (75.70) for third place among the team’s scoring leaders.
First-year head coach Justin Tereshko’s squad is also ranked 11th in the latest Golfstat.com Division III Relative Rankings.
Many of the ranked teams will compete for the NCAA Division III Championship May 12-15 in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Grandover Resort and Conference Center. Guilford co-hosts the event for the second straight season, along with the Greensboro Sports Commission.
Apr. 27 Bushnell / Golfweek Division III Coaches’ Poll
School (First-place votes) Points Last 1. Oglethorpe (4) 353 1 2. LaGrange (4) 336 2 3. Redlands (5) 336 5 4. Methodist 325 3 5. Illinois Wesleyan 306 4 6. Schreiner 298 6 7. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 265 9 8. Wittenberg 246 7 9. Texas-Tyler 237 8 10. Guilford 225 11 11. Central (Iowa) 191 10 12. Rhodes 184 12 13. Southwestern (Texas) 176 13 14. St. Thomas (Minn.) 159 14 15. LaVerne 157 15