Delaware, Ohio – For the third tournament in a row and the fifth time this season, the fourth-ranked Wittenberg University Men's Golf Team earned the team title at an event, this time finishing first out of six total teams over the weekend at Ohio Wesleyan's Strimer Memorial Invitational, played at the par-71, 6,876-yard Oakhaven Golf Club in Central Ohio.
The Tigers shot a two-day score of 572 (287-285), which was 16 shots better than the duo of league-rival Kenyon and No. 9 Carnegie Mellon that tied for second in the team standings with 588 strokes each. Rounding out the top six was NCAA Div. II Ohio Dominican in fourth (593), Ohio Wesleyan in fifth (600) and Thomas More in sixth (613).
While all 11 Wittenberg players competed in the event, the five scoring golfers that accounted for the final team score were led by junior Ryan Mallette who earned medalist honors at the event after posting a 36-hole score of 138. Mallette opened with a one-under 70 in Saturday's opening round, before carding a three-under 68 on Sunday to earn a two-stroke win over Carnegie Mellon's Jason Li. In addition to Mallette, senior Colin Laszlo and junior Cameron Willis also cracked the top-five in the individual standings out of the Wittenberg starting five as the duo finished as part of a three-way tie for fourth with 144 strokes each. Rounding out the five scoring players for the Tigers, senior Cooper Tayler finished as part of a five-way tie for eighth with a 146 (76-70) and classmate Isaac Hartley tied with three other players in the 36th position with a 158 (77-81).
The six remaining Tigers played as individuals at the event, led by sophomore Christopher Dunne finishing alone in third place in the final standings with a two-day score of 143 (70-73). Senior Chris Eigner also cracked the top-10 in the individual standings in seventh-place after carding a 145 (70-75), while junior Curtis Salmans tied for 33rd with two other golfers with a 157 (76-81).
In addition, freshman Will Birkholz finished 44th with a 162 (83-79), sophomore Daniel Castleberry tied for 47th with a 164 (82-82) and freshman Cameron Lloyd finished as part of a tie for 54th with a 171 (92-79).
The nationally-ranked Tigers will now turn their attention toward winning their 10th-straight North Coast Athletic Conference championship next weekend at the 2019 NCAC Golf Championships, set to be played at Westbrook Country Club in Mansfield, Ohio, May 3-5.