By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. -- A strong performance by the Willamette University men's golf team in the final round of the NCAA Division III Preview allowed the Bearcats to finish 12th in the overall team standings on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at the Mission Inn Resort. Willamette held 17th place after 36 holes and moved up five spots during the final 18 holes of the 54-hole competition.
Austin Davis (Sr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) of Willamette tied for fourth place in the individual standings after carding a 5-under par 67 in the final round for the low score of the day. It was the third-lowest round of the tournament.
Andre Chi of Methodist University (N.C.) placed first to claim medalist honors with a score of 207 (69-68-70). He won the title by two strokes. Ethan Unverzagt of Huntingdon College (Ala.) and Jimmy Morton from Illinois Wesleyan University tied for second place at 209. Unverzagt shot 70-70-69, while Morton carded scores of 68-70-71.
Davis tied for fourth with Evan DiSanto from Wittenberg University (Ohio) at 211. Davis shot 70-74-67, while DiSanto shot 73-67-71. Davis Hingtgen and Max Schwarz, both from Emory University (Ga.), tied for sixth place with scores of 212. Hingtgen shot 71-72-69 and Schwarz shot 69-73-70.
Cole Jahnke from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and William Knauth of Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) tied for eighth place at 213. Jahnke recorded scores of 75-69-69 and Knauth carded 72-71-70. Davis Reynolds from Greensboro College (N.C) shot 214 (71-71-72) for 10th place. A total of 122 golfers competed in the tournament.
On the tournament statistical chart, Davis tied with two other golfers for second place on par 4 holes. Chi of Methodist averaged 3.90 on par 4 holes, while Davis, Hingtgen from Emory, and Jahnke from UW-Eau Claire each averaged 3.93 on par 4 holes.
Davis's 67 led WU's efforts in the third round. Also providing quality play were teammates Jack McMullin (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS), Andrew Kibbee (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS), and Alex Weirth (So., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy). McMullin shot a 1-over par 73 in the third round, while Kibbee carded a 75 and Weirth shot a 76.
McMullin tied for 43rd place overall with a score of 223 (78-72-73). Kibbee tied for 64th at 226 (77-74-75). Weirth tied for 88th at 232 (70-86-76).
Methodist won the team title at 852 for 54 holes (273-290-289), as the Monarchs finished 12-under par. Emory placed second at 857 (287-285-285) and Huntingdon was third at 860 (284-295-281). Wittenberg followed in fourth place with a score of 864 (293-284-287). Illinois Wesleyan was fifth at 867 (290-289-288), Carnegie Mellon was sixth at 872 (287-294-291), Greensboro was seventh at 879 (289-298-292), and York College (Pa.) was finished eighth at 882 (298-289-295).
Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) placed ninth with a score of 884 (297-293-294). Oglethorpe University (Ga.) was 11th at 887 (298-297-292) and Willamette was 12th at 892 (295-306-291). Twenty-four teams participated in the tournament.
The Bearcats will compete at the Linfield Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 26. The tournament will be hosted by Linfield University at the Michelbook Country Club in McMinnville, Oregon.
