The Hillsdale College men's golf team opened the 2023-24 season in spectacular fashion on Monday and Tuesday at the Malone-Glenmoor Fall Invitational hosted at the Glenmoor Country Club in Canton, Ohio.
For the first time in five years, the Chargers topped the leaderboard as a team, shooting 885 over 54 holes to beat out runner-up Tiffin by two strokes and third place Ferris State by three.
It's Hillsdale's first invitational title since winning the G-MAC Fall Invite in 2018, five seasons ago. The Chargers clinched the victory with a stellar final round on Tuesday, shooting a 291 that tied for the best score by any team in the round, and two strokes better than their round two effort on Monday. That strong play allowed Hillsdale, who entered Tuesday in third place, to chase down the two teams ahead of them, Ferris State and Tiffin. The Chargers made up an 11-stroke deficit to the Bulldogs, who entered the final day with a five-stroke lead over Tiffin.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Hillsdale's victory is that it was led by three true freshmen playing in their first-ever collegiate event. Oliver Marshall, Ryan O'Rourke and Robert Thompson each shot a four-over 220 to finish tied for ninth overall and help push the Chargers to victory.
In the first two rounds, it was O'Rourke who kept the Chargers in contention, shooting an even-par 72 on Monday morning and a one-under 71 in the afternoon to sit in third place individually entering the final round. On Tuesday, with the title on the line, both Thompson and Marshall stepped up with great performances to help Hillsdale capture the crown. Thompson shot a 3-under 69 in the final round and Marshall carded a 2-under 70 to finish the job for the Chargers.
Sophomore Maxwell Burns also turned in a solid performance as Hillsdale's fourth scoring golfer to help the Chargers win, shooting a consistent 76-74-75=225 across the three rounds to finish tied for 23rd as well. Senior Carson Stohler took 50th as well for Hillsdale, shooting 78-79-78=235.
Junior Filippo Reale also played as an individual for Hillsdale in the Glenmoor Invite, and turned in a strong performance, tying for 21st overall with a 76-73-75=224 to get his season off to a solid start.
It's an impressive start for the Chargers, who are looking to bounce back strong as a program after a tough finish to the 2022-23 season. Hillsdale has a history of playing well in the Malone-Glenmoor Invite, including a runner-up finish in the 2022 edition, so it perhaps isn't surprising to see Hillsdale excelling at the Glenmoor Country Club. However, it's a very encouraging sign for a team that has three freshmen and a sophomore in the lineup, and still has significant room for improvement as those players continue to get more experience at the college level.
Hillsdale will have a couple of weeks off now before its next event. The Chargers travel to Mohawk Country Club in Tiffin, Ohio for the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invitational on Oct. 2-3 for their next outing looking to build off this week's victory and book another strong showing against Midwest Regional opponents to help strengthen Hillsdale's NCAA qualifying case down the road.
Photo by Emma Purdy