There were high expectations for the Hillsdale College men's golf team entering the 2020-21 season.
As the team reaches the halfway point on the calendar, those expectations have been exceeded so far.
The Chargers capped the best fall performance since the men's golf program was restarted in the fall of 2013 with another excellent finish at the Music City Invitational this past Monday and Tuesday at the Hermitage Golf Club in Hermitage, Tennessee.
Hillsdale shot a two-round score of 570 to finish runner-up to Southern Indiana in the invite, edging defending G-MAC champion Trevecca Nazarene by a stroke in the final standings. That 570 ties the best 36-hole score the Chargers have posted in an event since the program returned to Hillsdale, matching the 570 shot at the spring 2019 Music City Invitational played on the same course from April 1-2 of that year.
Two standout individual performances, one from a fifth-year senior and another from a player in his second year with the program, led the Chargers in the event. Senior Ryan Zetwick and freshman Gerry Jones, Jr. each shot a three-under 141 to finish tied for fifth in the invitational. It's the first top five finish individually for both players in their careers, though Zetwick had two prior top-10 finishes in his career entering the event.
Zetwick paced the Chargers in round one, matching his career low with a three-under 69 that included six birdies. Only a double-bogey on the par-5 11th hole kept Zetwick from making a run at the program record for low round, but his performance was good enough to help the Chargers sit just five strokes off the lead after the first round.
In the final round, Jones finished what Zetwick started, shooting a career-best round of 69 himself to finish three-under for the day and for the tournament, and help the Chargers hold off the Trojans for second place as a team. The breakthrough round was a big step for Jones, who has improved his finish in each of the successive invitationals he's played in this season, going from tied for 23rd at the Doc Spragg Memorial Invite in September to today's fifth-place finish.
Three more Chargers finished in the top 20 at the Music City Invite Sophomore Josh Davenport finished tied for 11th as well for Hillsdale College, shooting a 72-71-143 to finish one-under and senior George Roberts carded a one-over 71-74-145 to finish tied for 16th and round out Hillsdale's scoring golfers in the event. Competing as an individual, freshman Will Verduzco also had an impressive day for the Chargers in his first collegiate event, shooting one-under in the final round to finish with a 74-71-145 and tie for 16th as well.
Darragh Monaghan tied for 22nd for the Chargers with a two-over 73-73-146, Luke Girodat (75-75-150) and Logan Anuszkiewicz (74-76-150) each tied for 33rd and Tanner Motske shot a 77-74-151 to tie for 36th as well for the Chargers.
Tuesday's runner-up finish marks the fourth straight event where the Chargers finished in the top three as a team in the final standings. With strong performances in each of the first four events of the 2020-21 season, the Chargers are in a good position to qualify for the NCAA Midwest Regional at the end of the spring season and compete for the program's first berth in the NCAA Division II Championships. Now, the Chargers will look to maintain their fall form over the winter break and make improvements for the second half of the season, beginning in February.
Photo: Ryan Zetwick