It's championship season for the Hillsdale College men's golf team, and do or die time as the Chargers look to extend their season and bring home their first-ever G-MAC Spring Championship this weekend.
The Chargers travel to Lexington, Kentucky and the University Club of Kentucky's Big Blue Course for a two-day, 54-hole event that will determine the 2022 G-MAC men's golf champion and the recipient of an auto-bid to the NCAA DII Midwest/Central Regional Championships.
The 11 G-MAC member schools will open play on Friday, April 15 with 36 holes of stroke play, with an 18-hole final round on Saturday, April 16. Once all 54 holes are completed, the top two teams will go head-to-head in a medal match play competition to decide the team champion.
The Big Blue is a Par 72 course that has been set up to play at 6,831 yards. It's a course the Chargers are very familiar with, having finished runner-up as a team at last season's G-MAC Championships on the same course, and having taken ninth at the Findlay Spring Invite at the Big Blue on March 29th.
Hillsdale is one of five G-MAC teams currently ranked in the top 11 in the Midwest Region, sitting in 11th. The top five teams in the region are guaranteed an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament, while six through eight have a chance at an at-large spot depending on how many unranked teams in the region's three conferences win automatic bids.
Three of Hillsdale's five golfers – Gerry Jones, Jr., Josh Davenport and Will Verduzco, played on that runner-up team at the 2021 G-MAC Championships, and Hillsdale will be relying on their experience.
Hillsdale's top golfer, so far, has been newcomer Oscar Darlington, who has four top 10 and two top five finishes in 11 invitationals to date. The freshman has teamed well with lineup mainstays Jones, Jr. and Davenport all season, as well as senior Drew Gandy, who's been a consistent presence in the lineup for the first time in his Charger career this season.
The Chargers won't be the favorites this weekend – Findlay, the #34 team in the GolfStat rankings, and defending champion Trevecca Nazarene will both hold that distinction – but the Chargers are an intriguing dark horse. At the Findlay Spring Invite, Hillsdale was fifth after two rounds on the Big Blue Course, and ahead of every other team in the field this weekend but Findlay before falling back in the final round.
And when Hillsdale has put it all together for three rounds, as they did in October at the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invite, they're capable of beating any team in the Midwest Region – including the Oilers, who finished behind the Chargers in that event.
You can follow along with the action this weekend with live stats from Golfstat.com. Featured hole coverage from the site of the competition also will be available on Friday from the Great Midwest Digital Network at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/greatmidwest/.