2020-21 All-G-MAC Men's Golf Team
Fifteen months ago, Hillsdale College seniors Ryan Zetwick and George Roberts were expecting to be long out of college by May of 2021.
Then a global pandemic hit – and upended everything, including the lives of Zetwick and Roberts, who saw their expected senior campaigns in 2020 brought to an abrupt halt, with no closure.
But with that loss also came an opportunity – an extra year of eligibility to compete as college athletes in the 2020-21 school year, if they chose. Both Zetwick and Roberts jumped at the chance, and it's proved to be a wise decision.
On Tuesday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference office announced that both Zetwick and Roberts had made the 2020-21 All-G-MAC team for the first time in their careers. It's a gratifying achievement for two players who made the choice to stick with the Hillsdale College golf program and play an extra season this fall and spring.
In a season where they never expected to be playing, both golfers have been their best selves, combining for eight top 10 finishes and five top five finishes in the nine events played this season. That's after four previous seasons where both players posted steady scores but never cracked the top five individually in an event.
Roberts, a native of Hampshire, England, started the season on fire with a fourth-place finish at the Doc Spragg Invitational in September 2020 and a runner-up finish at the Kyle Ryman Memorial in October 2020. Since then, he's been extremely consistent, shooting two of the three low rounds of 67 by a Charger golfer this year and posting 11 rounds of par or better.
One of those rounds of 67 came in the final round of the Midwest Regional at Fox Run Golf Club on Oct. 13, where Roberts' finish helped the Chargers take second as a team and establish themselves as an early contender in the Midwest Region.
Roberts' stroke average for the season of 72.64 leads the Chargers and is third in the G-MAC this season.
Zetwick has been just as impressive, and is closing the 2020-21 season on a tear. The senior from Castle Rock, Colorado closed the G-MAC Championships on April 20 with a 5-under 67 of his own to secure a third-place individual finish in the conference and help the Chargers take runner-up honors – the program's best finish in a spring conference championship since it was restarted in 2013.
That finish was one of three top five finishes individually this season for Zetwick, who also took fourth at the SVSU Spring Invite in March and fifth at the Music City Invitational in October 2020. He's played 14 of his 25 rounds this season at par or better, and his stroke average of 73.08 is sixth among all golfers in the G-MAC for the season.
On top of their individual accomplishments, Zetwick and Roberts have helped the Chargers to what is indisputably their best season since the program returned at Hillsdale College. The Chargers have finished in the top five in six of their nine events, with five top three finishes and three runner-up finishes, including taking second place in the G-MAC on April 20.
The Chargers also earned just their second-ever NCAA Midwest Regional berth, and will compete in the Central/Midwest Regional at Shoal Creek Golf Club in Kansas City, Missouri in a three-day event beginning on May 6.
Zetwick, Roberts and Hillsdale will look to better their previous trip to the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional in 2019, where the Chargers finished tied for 13th overall. Both Zetwick and Roberts were among the Chargers' lineup of five players in that event as juniors, and a major factor in their return for a fifth-year was the desire to get back to the super regional stage and put on a stronger performance.