Wittenberg Captures 2025 NCAC Men's Golf Championship

COLUMBUS, IN - By the lofty standards set by Wittenberg Men's Golf over the last 18 years, the 2024-25 season was a bit of a struggle. Ranked outside the top-50 nationally and in need of a win to keep their season going, the Tigers saved their best performance of the season for the most opportune time by pulling off an upset victory at the 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships.

Wittenberg posted a tremendous three-day total of 858 strokes on the 6,897-yard, par-72 North and West courses at Otter Creek Golf Course to defeat pre-tournament favorite and defending conference champion Kenyon by four strokes. It was Wittenberg's 13th NCAC title, earning the Tigers the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships at Midvale Country Club in Penfield, New York, May 20-23.

The Tigers will be making their fourth straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and the 30th in program history. The 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Golf National Champion, Wittenberg finished 15th in last year's NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships, which took place at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada.

"This week was what we've all worked so hard for," said senior Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, OH / Jerome). "We've been at the wrong end of the leaderboard a lot this season, but we've all had our own individual victories. It was nice for us to put it all together for this weekend and get a ticket to the national championship. It's all worth it."

It was a total team effort that got the job done at the NCAC Championships. Wittenberg opened with a blistering first round score of 4-under-par before taking charge in the second round with a stunning 5-under-par in cold, blustery weather conditions. In both of those rounds, it was the freshmen tandem of Mitch Bolte (Newark, OH / Newark) and Mikey Schutte (Cincinnati, OH / Elder) who posted the best scores to lead the Tigers.

That set the stage for the ultimate test of nerves, and the Tigers were up to the task, shooting 3-over-par in the third and final round despite rainy weather conditions. This time it was senior Joshua Wright (Wadsworth, OH / Akron Hoban) who stepped up over the final 18 holes, going low for the team with a 1-under-par score of 71. Schutte was next at even par, followed by Yarbrough at 73 and Bolte at 75.

"This one is a hard-fought team win," said Head Coach David Wetterich '14. "We rallied together, and the guys played steady golf all weekend. It's great to see that we showed our true potential on the biggest starge of the year so far. We're going to relish in this win today, and then we'll focus our sights on nationals."

Schutte finished in sole possession of third place individually with a three-round total of four-under-par 212. Bolte and Wright finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with matching totals of two-under-par 214, and Yarbrough took 10th place with a two-over-par total of 218. Rounding things out for the Tigers was sophomore Caleb Domitrovich (McDonald, OH / McDonald), who totaled 227 strokes in the event, good for 20th place.

Schutte, Wright, and Bolte all earned All-Tournament Team honors for finishing in the top five individually.

Written By: Ryan Maurer