HERSHEY, Pa. — The Wittenberg Tigers made their return to NCAA Division III Tournament play a successful one, carding a deceiving 310 on Day 1 of the 2010 championship event to stand 11th in the 37-team field.
The 310 was deceiving because the Tigers had one of the later tee times on Day 1, and thus had to play most of the round in intermittent rain and steadily dropping temperatures. Skidmore leads the tournament after finishing with a 295 in the first round, followed by Franklin & Marshall at 298. Most of the teams in the top 20 were beneficiaries of earlier tee times, which allowed them to avoid most of the inclement weather.
Most of the top teams also played at Hershey Links, as opposed to Hershey Country Club. Fourteen of the top 16 teams, including Wittenberg, played at Hershey Links, setting up an interesting second round dynamic as those teams move to Hershey Country Club in hopes of making the 23-team cut after the second round. The 23 teams that make the cut will end up playing four rounds through Friday - two on each course.
Individually, Wittenberg was paced by sophomore Ricky Boerner (Hilliard, Ohio/Watterson), who turned in a 76 on Day 1 to stand 29th overall. FreshmanCraig Osterbrock (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) and sophomore Jordan Millice (Cable, Ohio/Triad) were right behind with matching 77s to stand 39th, followed by junior Bleu George (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic) and sophomore Ben Smith (North Bend, Ohio/Elder) at 80 and 82, respectively.