LEXINGTON, Ky. - Ranked No. 11 in the preseason by Golf World Magazine, the Wittenberg men's golf team kicked off a promising 2013-14 season with a solid third-place finish at the Transylvania Invitational.
Hosted by the No. 1 team in the nation according to the preseason rankings, the Transylvania Invitational featured a 19-team field and a surprise winner in the College of Mount St. Joseph. The Lions posted the best score of the weekend in the opening round with a 287 and then hung on as Wittenberg made a tremendous charge on Day 2 to pull within four strokes with a second round-low score of 294.
The Tigers were unable to move up from third place, however, as Mount St. Joseph checked in at 588 and Rhodes carded a two-day total of 591. Wittenberg placed third after covering the 7,013-yard, par-72 University Club of Kentucky Wildcat Course in rounds of 298 and 294 for a total of 592, followed by Centre and Transylvania with matching scores of 601.
Individually, Wittenberg was paced by senior Ben Hogenkamp (Minster, Ohio/Minster), who finished in a seventh-place tie with a score of 146, including a sizzling opening round of 70. Junior Jared Wissinger (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) was next in 15th place with his collegiate-best two-day score of 148.
Junior Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) was rock steady with matching 75s each day to place 23rd. His total of 150 was matched by senior David Wetterich (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle), while freshman Sam Stilwell (Sterling, Va./Dominion) rounded out the scoring with a 156 to finish 46th in the 119-player field.