As a freshman making his first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance this weekend, Oscar Darlington battled through ups and downs to finish with a solid showing.
The golfer from Helsinki, Finland finished in the top quarter of the 108 golfers competing at the NCAA DII Central/Midwest Super Regional on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at The Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana, tying for 21st with a seven-over 223 across 54 holes.
Darlington started the tournament on Thursday on fire, going as low as four-under and sitting at two-under after the front nine. Worsening weather conditions made the back nine a significantly tougher challenge but Darlington still reached the end of the round with a one-over 73, sitting in 20th place and within striking distance of a top 10 finish.
As conditions grew more challenging in a second round that stretched into Friday from Thursday with wind and hard rain, Darlington kept his cool, firing an identical one-over 73 as other golfers around him struggled to head into the final round on Saturday tied for 15th and in good position to make a charge at the two individual qualifying berths to the NCAA DII National Championships that were up for grabs.
Saturday's final round brought Darlington's greatest challenge yet, as a triple bogey and two double bogeys put the individual qualifying berths out reach and dropped the freshman to eight-over with just eight holes remaining. But faced with a hopeless situation, Darlington dug deep to close out the round, birdieing four of the final eight holes to finish five-over for the day and getting himself back into the top 25 in the final standings.
Throughout the weekend, Darlington was especially strong on par 4s, shooting one-under on par 4 holes for the tournament, tied for the second-best score of any of the 108 players on those holes. His 11 birdies across the three rounds were also fourth best among all players in the event.
While Darlington didn't get the finish he wanted, the experience of playing in the NCAA Tournament and the resolve he showed on the back nine in the final round should be valuable for the freshman moving forward, with three more years of eligibility to work with. He'll have a strong team to work with next year as well, as four of Hillsdale's top five players return and a strong freshman class will bolster the Chargers as they look to get back to the NCAA DII Super Regional as a team after just missing the cut in 2022.
Photo Courtesy of Trevecca Nazarene Athletics