Throughout this week's NCAA Central/Midwest Men's Golf Regional, the Hillsdale College men's golf team and senior Ryan Zetwick were in the hunt to make a first ever Division II National Championship appearance.
But a tough field, tough conditions in Kansas City, Missouri at Shoal Creek Golf Club where the regional was played and a tough final day conspired to keep the Chargers from achieving that goal.
The Chargers sat in seventh, two strokes out of the fourth and final NCAA Championship qualifying spot, after overcoming wind gusts of 30 miles per hour or more to fire a day one 296 on Thursday, and Hillsdale remained in the hunt with a second-day 294.
But Hillsdale struggled with course conditions on the final day, shooting a 306 that dropped them back into a tie for 11th with Grand Valley St. in the final standings.
While it was an up-and-down three day tournament for most teams, Zetwick was a constant presence near the top of the leaderboard for the Chargers throughout the competition.
Playing in his final collegiate event, the Castle Rock, Colorado native put himself in contention for the lone NCAA Championship qualifying berth that goes to the top individual golfer not on one of the four qualifying teams early on in the competiton, shooting a two-under 69 on the first day of action to sit in a tie for second place.
Zetwick shot a 74 on Friday to drop back to 13th in the standings, but made six birdies in the final round on Saturday to make one final push for the top spot, carding an even-par 71 in his last round to finish with a three-day total of 214, good for a tie for 10th place in the region and just one stroke from forcing a playoff for the spot at the NCAA Championships with the golfer who took the berth, Luke Palmowski of Rogers State University.
The senior's finish is the first top-10 finish by a Hillsdale College golfer in an NCAA Regional meet since the program was restarted in 2014, and an excellent capper to an impressive career with the Charger men's golf team for Zetwick.
In his first NCAA Regional appearance, freshman Gerry Jones Jr. tied for 45th, shooting a 75-73-77-225, and sophomore Josh Davenport tied for 59th after a solid start, carding a 74-70-86-230.
Senior George Roberts shot a 79-76-80-235 to finish tied for 71st as well, and freshman Will Verduzco shot a 86-77-78-241 to finish tied for 81st.
The Regional appearance caps the most successful season for the Charger men's golf team since restarting in 2014. The Chargers posted six top five invitational finishes and three runner-up finishes, both highs since 2014, and the team's 11th-place finish in the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional is also the program's best.
Hillsdale now looks to the fall and the start of another successful season. The Chargers will have big holes to fill in their lineup with the graduation of Zetwick and Roberts, both first-team All-G-MAC players, but return a solid foundation with Davenport, Jones Jr. and Verduzco all returning in 2021-22.