The Hillsdale College men's golf team used consistent scoring to place eighth in a tough field of Midwest Regional contenders in the Ken Partridge Invite hosted by the University of Indianapolis over the weekend at the Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana.
The Chargers shot near identical scores for the three rounds -- 301, 301, and 300 -- to shoot a 902 in the event, beating out 2022 regional qualifier Indianapolis and regionally ranked Ashland in the final standings.
Sophomore Filippo Reale continued his recent run of form to co-lead the Chargers in the event, bouncing back from a tough opening round 79 to fire 73 on Monday and 74 on Tuesday to finish tied for 33rd with a score of 226 in the three day, three round invite. Junior Will Verduzco also played consistent golf to tie Reale for 33rd at 226, shooting a 75-77-74 and finishing five-under on Par 5s, tied for the sixth-best mark among all players in the invitational.
Senior Drew Gandy shot a 75-74-79=228 to finish tied for 44th as well for the Chargers, fellow senior Darragh Monaghan shot a 76-81-73=230 to finish tied for 48th, and freshman Max Burns carded a 75-77-82=234 to finish tied for 60th.
Sophomore Charlie Belden also played as an individual for the Chargers in the event, carding a 78-78-73=229 to finish tied for 47th as well for Hillsdale.
While the Chargers' scores were consistent, it masked a roller-coaster outing for Hillsdale, which had the fourth-most birdies of any team in the tournament with 44, but finished 12th out of 13 squads in pars made with 137.
Hillsdale now has roughly two weeks to its final scheduled event of the season, the three-day G-MAC Championships on April 24-26 at the University Club of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Of the 10 teams in the G-MAC slated to compete for the title, Hillsdale currently sits in fourth, with an average team score per 18 holes of 297.38.
In order to earn a spot as a team in the NCAA Central/Midwest Super Regional in May, the Chargers almost certainly will need to win the conference title and claim the automatic bid on offer, but Hillsdale has earned top four finishes in each of the past three contested G-MAC Championships and have the talent to make a run at the title if it all comes together in two weeks.