Columbus, Ohio – The Wittenberg University Men's Golf Team, which has risen to No. 4 in the latest GCAA/Bushnell Div. III Top-25, had a solid showing over the last two days of competition at Ohio Wesleyan's annual Gordin, played at the historic par-72, 7,098-yard Columbus Country Club in Central Ohio. The Tigers finished the 54-hole event in a tie for fourth with No. 5 Guilford with 864 strokes each.
The national rankings once again proved to be spot on in an event that featured several of the nation's best teams as the only three teams to finish above the Tigers in the team standings were the three teams ranked above them in the Top-25. Defending National Champion and second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan captured the team title at the event with a three-round score of 840 (285-277-278), followed by No. 3 Huntingdon in second with 846 (285-280-281) and No. 1 Emory in third with 853 (290-278-285).
Wittenberg opened the two-day, 54-hole event with a 289 in round one on Monday, before closing out the first day of action with a 280 in the second round. The Tigers than posted a 295 in Tuesday's final round to finish with 864 strokes and a tie in the team standings with Guilford. The Tigers' team score of 280 in the second round was a school record for an 18-hole round in relation to par at eight-under, and the second-best total team score ever recorded in an 18-hole round overall. In 2015, Wittenberg fired a two-under par score of 278 in the first of three rounds at the Camp LeJeune Intercollegiate in North Carolina.
Senior Cameron Willis was the Tigers' top individual performer at the event as he tied for third in the 75-golfer field with IWU's Jimmy Morton. Willis posted under-par scores in each of his three rounds, carding back-to-back 69's in rounds one and two, before closing out the tournament with a 71 on Tuesday. In the 54 total holes of golf, Willis posted 14 birdies and recorded an even-par score on 33 of the remaining holes.
In addition to Willis, junior Christopher Dunne also cracked the top-10 in the individual standings at The Gordin by finishing as part of a three-way tie for 10th-place with a 54-hole score of 212 (69-69-74).
Rounding out the list of Wittenberg players at the event, senior Ryan Mallette tied for 28th with a 218 (77-68-73), freshman Evan DiSanto tied for 52nd with a 225 (74-74-77) and sophomore Will Birkholz tied for 72nd with a 238 (79-82-77).
The nationally-ranked men's golf team will put a bow on their fall schedule next week as they will make the short trek up to northwest Ohio next Monday and Tuesday, October 7-8, for the Tiffin University Kyle Ruman Memorial.