The Hillsdale College men's golf team was among the contenders all season in a very tough G-MAC title race.
Now that the 2021-22 campaign has ended, that fact is reflected in the makeup of the G-MAC All-Conference teams, announced on Wednesday afternoon by the conference office.
Three Chargers received first-team All-G-MAC honors for the 2021-22 season, while freshman Oscar Darlington also earned additional recognition as the G-MAC's Freshman of the Year.
The freshman from Helsinki, Finland had a banner first season, earning four top 10 finishes and two top five finishes in 12 events played for the Chargers in 2021-22. His performance at the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invite on Oct. 4-5 was historic, as Darlington shot a 7-under 209 that was the second-best 54 hole round by a Charger golfer since the program was restarted in 2014, and just two strokes off the school record low round.
Darlington was selected to represent Hillsdale at the NCAA Central/Midwest Super Regional in early May, tying for 21st with a 54-hole score of 223 and finishing in the top quarter of all players at the invite-only event. In earning the Freshman of the Year honor, Darlington becomes thesecond Charger in program history to win a major end-of-season conference award, joining Josh Davenport (2019) in winning Freshman of the Year.
The freshman was joined on the All-G-MAC first team by two veteran teammates. Senior Drew Gandy earned his spot on the team with an impressive sixth-place finish at the G-MAC Championships on April 15 and 16, shooting a 218 with two under-par rounds to earn the first top 10 finish of his career and help Hillsdale place fourth overall.
Gandy's strong showing was part of a great finish to the season for the Midland, Michigan native, who became a lineup regular for the first time in his career in 2021-22 and steadily improved as the season wore on.
Also making the All-G-MAC first team was junior Gerry Jones, Jr. A consistent and stable presence in Hillsdale's lineup throughout the season, Jones Jr. had three under-par finishes in 11 tournaments, including a career-best round of 213 and a top 10 finish at the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invite in October. Jones also went low at the St. Leo Invite in February and the Findlay Spring Invite in March, just missing additional top 10 finishes in both tournaments.
All three players are slated to return for the 2022-23 season as Hillsdale looks to get back to the NCAA DII Tournament as a team and push for a G-MAC crown with an experienced lineup, as well as a strong incoming freshman class.