French Lick, IN – The No. 5 Wittenberg Tiger men's golf team traveled to French Lick, IN to the highly-competitive D3 Showcase, hosted by Hanover College. The Tigers took on the iconic Donald Ross designed course, playing 36-holes of competition, over sixty-six hundred yards per 18 playing at par 70. Wittenberg battled both regional and national competition for the second consecutive week with a loaded field. Nationally ranked opponents consisted of No. 3 Emory, No. 4 Huntingdon, No. 6 Carnegie Mellon, No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan, No. 9 Sewanee, No. 11 Piedmont, No. 14 Greensboro, No. 20 Denison and No. 23 Berry.
With weather impacting the 54-hole event on day one, cutting it down to a 36-hole with back-to-back days of 18. The Tigers carded a day one score of 303, taking an 11th spot into the second day of competition. Wittenberg rounded out the two-day 36-hole competition, finishing 11th amongst the field of 20 teams, posting a final score of 591 (+31).
The Tigers were led by JF Aber through 18 holes with a 74 (+4). Finishing the tournament with a final score of 143 (+3), Aber earned a T-9 finish. Aber carded a pair of birdies, including one on the 435-yard par-four 12th to move his score back to even on day one. Adding four birdies on day two, he finished with a 69 (-1).
Matthew Mattioli cracked the top 25 for the Tigers with rounds of 76 and 72 (+8) on day one, finishing at a T23 position for the Tigers. Mattioli birdied the longest hole on the course, the par five, 538-yard seventh. Josh Wright and Nicklaus Pidgeon earned their way into the top 50 after the first 18-holes of competition. Wright would also make birdie on the same 538-yard par five as Mattioli. Pidgeon finished the 36-hole tournament at T-30, carding a 149 (+9). Pidgeon added a pair of birdies on the second day, cutting three strokes off his score.
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The Tigers will return to action on April 15-16 at the Kravetz Invitational, played at the Irondequoit Golf Club in Rochester, NY.