LEXINGTON, Ky. – In evaluating the opening weekend of the 2012-13 season, Wittenberg Men's Golf Head Coach Jeff Roope likely has just one small gripe – his team didn't take first place in the Transylvania Fall Invitational. But the Tigers didn't miss by much.
Ranked 12th nationally in a preseason poll and coming off a seventh-place finish in the 2012 NCAA Division III Championships, Wittenberg placed second at Transylvania, covering the 6,625-yard, par-71 University Club of Kentucky, Wildcat Course, in 577 strokes over two days. The third-ranked Pioneers, the 2012 national runner-up, shot 576 to take the top spot, while Centre finished third in the 17-team field with a 580.
Wittenberg stood third after the opening round on Saturday, one stroke back of Centre and eight behind Transylvania. But the Tigers put together a final round charge that nearly netted an unlikely victory, carding the top team score of the day of 288. That round is the sixth-best in program history, while the 289 shot on Day 1 of the tournament ranks No. 7.
Key to that second-day rally was the play of junior Ben Hogenkamp (Minster, Ohio/Minster) (pictured), who shot 70-69 over the two rounds to claim a one-stroke victory and medalist honors. His 69 is just the 17th sub-70 round in program history, and his two-day score of 139 is tied for third all-time at Wittenberg.
Hogenkamp was backed by stellar play from the rest of the Tigers, starting with a trio who tied for 13th place with matching two-day totals of 146. Senior Craig Osterbrock (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) carded back-to-back 73s, sophomore Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) went 75-71, and junior David Wetterich (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) finished with rounds of 71-75.
Rounding things out for the Tigers, senior Bradley Shepherd (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) finished 39th with a score of 152.
Wittenberg returns to action Sept. 15-16 at Granville Golf Club for the Denison Fall Invitational.