Solid, consistent rounds helped the Hillsdale College men's golf team take a respectable fourth overall at the G-MAC Championships this weekend, hosted on the University Club of Kentucky's Big Blue Course.
The Chargers were in the hunt throughout the weekend, sitting tied for second with a 294 after the first round on Friday morning, and alone in second with a 593 entering Saturday's final round, but were edged out late by strong rounds from Findlay, Tiffin and Trevecca Nazarene on the final day, carding another 294 in their final Saturday round to finish with a 54-hole score of 887.
Leading the way for the Chargers were the team's two seniors, Drew Gandy and Josh Davenport, who played solid golf throughout the G-MAC Championships to post top 10 finishes.
Gandy, who became a lineup regular for the first time just this season, had one of the best invitationals of his Charger career, shooting one-under 71s in both the first and final rounds to place sixth with a score of 218 and secure first-team All-G-MAC honors. The senior had three birdies and 13 pars in his final round at Big Blue to secure the first top 10 finish of his career in any event, let alone one as important as a conference championship.
Davenport, a stalwart in the lineup for the last four years at Hillsdale, bounced back from an opening-round 75 with an even-par 72 in the afternoon round on Friday and a solid 73 on Saturday, finishing tied for 10th overall with a 220. Davenport had three birdies in his final round to help keep the Chargers from dropping further back in the standings.
Freshman Oscar Darlington tied for 26th for the Chargers with a 225, posting rounds of 73 and 74 on Friday to help Hillsdale enter the final round in second place. Junior Gerry Jones, Jr. also shot a 225 to finish tied for 26thn for the Chargers, shooting his best round of the event in the final round with a 73 on Saturday.
Sophomore Will Verduzco carded a 78-81-77-236 to finish 52nd as well for Hillsdale. The Chargers had a strong showing on Par 5s in the tournament, shooting eight-under as a team, led by a four-under performance from Davenport, while Gandy was particularly effective on Par 3s for the second-straight tournament, posting a score of +1 that was second-best among all players competing.
Hillsdale's score of 887 is the second best team score the Chargers have ever had in four G-MAC spring championship competitions, dating back to the 2017-18 season.
The Chargers now await their NCAA fate. Hillsdale was seeded 10th in the most recent NCAA DII regional poll, and will hope their fourth-place G-MAC finish is enough to extend their season when the tournament field is announced on April 22.
Photo Courtesy of Trevecca Athletics