No. 15 Men's Golf finishes 15th at NCAA Division III Championships
May 17, 2024
BOULDER CITY, Nev. — The No. 15 Wittenberg men's golf team finished at 6-over-par in Friday's fourth and final round to finish in 15th place overall at 19-over-par at the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships.
The Basics
- Venue: Boulder Creek Golf Club - Boulder City, Nev., Par 72, Yardage: 7,377
- The tournament was hosted by UNLV and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
- Wittenberg is ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, which was released on May 3, and is No. 16 in the latest NCAA Division III Scoreboard rankings, powered by Clippd, which was released on Thursday.
- The Tigers made the initial 43-team field as an at-large selection after finishing as the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships runner-up to Kenyon. Senior J.F. Aber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy) was the individual medalist at the NCACs.
- Wittenberg, the 2017 Division III national champion, was making its third straight appearance, and 29th overall, in the NCAA Championships. The Tigers finished seventh in 2022 at Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., and 13th last year at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky.
- The initial field consisted of 221 competitors. At the end of 36 holes of competition on Wednesday, the field was cut to the top 18 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams. The Tigers finished in a two-way tie for 17th after 36 holes, making the cut by a margin of two strokes.
- No. 3 Carnegie Mellon was the defending champion.
The Tournament - Day 4
- Wittenberg shot a 6-over-par 294 in Friday's fourth round and dropped one spot to finish the tournament in 15th place with a 19-over-par 304-284-289-294—1171.
- No. 1 Methodist shot a round-best 7-under-par 281 on Friday and won the national championship by one stroke with a 21-under-par 271-295-284-281—1131. No. 3 Carnegie Mellon finished second at 20-under-par, No. 4 Oglethorpe and No. 2 Emory tied for third at 3-under-par, and No. 18 Redlands rounded out the top five at 2-under-par.
- Aber led the Tigers on Friday, finishing with a 3-under-par 69. Sophomore Mark Sulek (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) and juniors Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) and Joshua Wright (Wadsworth, Ohio/Akron Hoban) each shot a 3-over-par 75, and senior Nicklaus Pidgeon (Homeworth, Ohio/West Branch) posted a 5-over-par 77.
- Aber posted a team-high five birdies in Friday's round to go with four each from Sulek and Wright.
- Aber was the Tigers' top finisher in the final individual standings. He posted a 2-under-par 76-68-73-69—286 to finish tied for 17th in the post-cut, 96-man field.
- Yarbrough tied for 30th with a 1-over-par 76-69-69-75—289, Sulek tied for 60th with a 7-over-par 76-72-72-75—295, Pidgeon tied for 82nd with a 15-over-par 76-75-75-77—303, and Wright was 95th with a 33-over-par 86-85-75-75—321.
- Oglethorpe's Michael O'Sullivan was the national medalist, finishing with a 12-under-par 66-70-71-69—276. Methodist's Cooper Hrabak was second at 11-under-par, Illinois Wesleyan's Griffin Pohl and Carnegie Mellon's Brian Xu tied for third at 8-under-par, and Carnegie Mellon's David Zhang rounded out the top five at 7-under-par. Hrabak and Pohl shot a round-best 5-under-par 67 on Friday.
Quote - Head coach David Wetterich
- "Overall, the team had a great experience for the week. It felt really good to come back and make the cut after being so far behind after Day 1. Participating in the national championship is always an honor and privilege, and we all were grateful to have the opportunity to compete. Congratulations to Methodist University on winning the championship this year. We are looking forward to next season and making a run for a national championship in 2025."