The Hillsdale College men's golf team posted its best score in a 54-hole event in nearly two years on Tuesday in its first invitational of the season, the Doc Spragg Fall Invite at the Findlay Country Club.
The two-day event hosted by G-MAC rival Findlay University was an overwhelmingly positive start to the 2020-21 season for the Chargers, who placed third in the event behind the champion, Indianapolis, and the runner-up and host Oilers.
Hillsdale was just 10 strokes behind the leader entering the final day thanks to an electric second round on Monday afternoon that saw the Chargers shoot a five-under 283 as a team, the best 18-hole team score that the Chargers have posted since a round of 274 on April 1, 2019 that helped the Chargers win the Music City Invitational that year.
Senior George Roberts (Hampshire, England/South Downs College) led the way for the Chargers in the second round by shooting a scorching 5-under 67 that saw him tied atop the leaderboard as an individual after two rounds. Sophomore Josh Davenport (Binley, England/King Henry VIII) posted a two-under 70 and senior Ryan Zetwick (Castle Rock, CO/Rock Canyon) shot a 1-under 71 as well to give Hillsdale three golfers under par for the round.
That round, the second-best 18-hole score of any team in the two-day event, helped propel the Chargers into contention after a decent round of 298 to open the tournament on Monday morning. However, Hillsdale couldn't quite recapture the magic to chase down the Greyhounds and Oilers in the final round on Tuesday morning, shooting a 294 to finish with a 54-hole total of 875, nine strokes behind Findlay and 18 strokes behind Indianapolis.
Although the Chargers couldn't bring home the title, their score of 875 is the best 54-hole event score that Hillsdale has posted since the Miami Intercollegiate on Oct. 22-23, 2018, and the third best score the Chargers have posted for a 54-hole event since restarting the men's golf program in the 2014-15 season.
Hillsdale had two golfers finish in the top 10 individually, led by Roberts, who finished two-under (73-67-74-214) to tie for fourth place overall and earn his first top five finish as a Charger. Zetwick also tied for ninth place for Hillsdale, shooting one-over (74-71-72-217).
Davenport carded a 77-70-74-221 for the Chargers, finishing tied for 18th, Gerry Jones, Jr. (Richmond, VA/Homeschooled) shot a 75-75-74-224 to finish tied for 23rd and Darragh Monaghan (Kingswood, England/Epsom College) shot a 76-78-74-228 to finish tied for 38th.
Hillsdale will look to build off of the momentum from a strong start in their next event, as the Chargers travel to the Mohawk Golf Club in Tiffin, OH for the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invite on Sunday, Oct. 4 for three days of competition.
Photo: George Roberts, taken by Gwen Buchhop