The Hillsdale College men's golf team had a close battle with the top teams on the leaderboard at the Nemacolin Intercollegiate this Monday and Tuesday, hosted by the University of Findlay at the Mystic Rock Course in Farmington, Pennsylvania, but finished fifth in an event where just four strokes separated Hillsdale from second place Henderson State.
The Chargers were second after an opening round 292 and entered Tuesday in third place with half of the second round in the books, but back-to-back rounds of 300 and 301 left the Chargers a stroke shy of fourth place Tiffin and three strokes off of third-place Findlay. Indianapolis won the event with a 54-hole score of 871.
Hillsdale continued to get strong play from its underclassmen, led by Ryan O'Rourke, who shot Hillsdale's only under-par round of the event and put up a consistent and impressive 72-71-72=215 to finish tied for third against some of the top opponents in the Midwest Region. O'Rourke was excellent on both Par 3s, tying for the lowest score on such holes in the event at 1-under, and also stood out on par 5s, shooting -6 to finish second only to eventual medalist Maverick Conway of Indianapolis on those holes. O'Rourke also posted two eagles in the event.
Fellow freshman Robert Thompson also played solidly for Hillsdale, tying for 15th with a score of 73-75-76=224, and sophomore Maxwell Burns was close behind in a tie for 18th, shooting a 74-76-75=225.
Freshman Oliver Marshall carded a 73-78-78=229 to finish 27th overall, and junior Filippo Reale placed 43rd with a 77-85-85=246.
With the event, Hillsdale wraps up a solid fall campaign that included the program's first win since 2020 in September's Malone-Glenmoor Invitational. While a young Chargers squad didn't take advantage of every opportunity it had in the fall, Hillsdale had enough success to enter the spring season in decent shape to make the NCAA DII Super Regional field. The Chargers will look to continue to improve over the winter break and get back on the course on February 19, playing down in Florida in the Saint Leo Invite.
Photo courtesy of Meredith Wipper, Findlay Athletics