Freshman Oscar Darlington takes to the course at the Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana this weekend, looking to make history for the Hillsdale College men's golf team.
The Chargers have sent one individual and two teams to the NCAA Central/Midwest Super Regional Championship in the past four seasons, but have never had a golfer advance to compete in the NCAA DII National Championships since moving up to NCAA DII in 1990.
Darlington is looking to become the first to accomplish that feat against a tough field of contenders, including the top 10 teams from both the Central and Midwest Region, as well as seven other highly qualified individuals.
The Chargers fell just short of earning a bid as a team to the Super Regional, despite a solid fourth place performance at the G-MAC Championships in mid-April. Darlington, however, was tabbed as an individual qualifier on the back of a strong first season with the Chargers that saw him finish in the top 10 in four out of 11 events, including two top five finishes.
At the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invite on Oct. 4th and 5th, Darlington shot one of the greatest 54-hole rounds in program history, taking runner-up honors and carding a 69-73-67-209 that was just two strokes off the 207 Joel Pietila shot in 2017 that stands as the best mark by a Charger golfer since the program was restarted in 2014.
It's that finish that gives Darlington hope that he can contend for one of the two individual qualifying spots to the NCAA DII National Championships up for grabs this weekend. If the freshman from Helsinki, Finland can catch fire and duplicate that performance, he has a very good shot of becoming the first Charger to qualify.
The Chargers' best-ever individual finish at the NCAA Super Regional came in 2017, when Pietila shot that 207 to finish tied for ninth overall in the event held at Aweril Dunes in Axtell, Nebraska, but six strokes back of the second and final individual qualifying spot to that year's NCAA DII Championships.
Darlington tees off at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday in a shotgun start at the Purgatory Golf Club, a Par 72 course that plays at a daunting 7,707 yards, for three days of competition, with a second 18-hole round to follow in the afternoon, and the championship round on Saturday. The tournament was originally set up for teams and players to play 18 holes each day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but significant expected rain on Friday has forced the format to be altered to accommodate.
The top six finishing teams after 54 holes will advance to the NCAA DII National Championship set to be held on May 16-20 at TPC Michigan in Detroit, Michigan, as well as the top two individuals not on Championship qualifying teams.
As a lone individual competing, Darlington will be aiming to claim one of those two individual qualifying spots.
You can follow along with the action all weekend with live results, courtesy of Golfstat.com.