A youth movement powered the Hillsdale College men's golf team to a strong finish this season in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, and now two of the players leading that charge are reaping the rewards.
Freshmen Robert Thompson and Oliver Marshall both earned All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honors, as the G-MAC announced its end of season awards for men's golf on Tuesday afternoon.
The two players took different paths for the Chargers on the way to earning recognition. Thompson got the honor after an excellent performance at the G-MAC Championships at the end of April hosted at The Pearl in Owensboro, Kentucky, shooting under par in two of the three rounds to finish tied for eighth with a score of 217. It was one of two top 10 finishes on the season for the freshman from North Carolina, who also placed in the top 10 at the season-opening Malone-Glenmoor Invite while helping lead Hillsdale to its first team title since 2020.
Marshall, meanwhile, was selected for his consistency across the entire season, as the Florida native posted four top 10 finishes in nine events, and two more in the top 15. Marshall shot a season-best round of 214 to tie for eighth at the Kyle Ryman Memorial Invite in October, and posted his best finish at the Findlay Spring Invite in March, tying for seventh with a three-round total of 215. Marshall finished close behind Thompson at the G-MAC Championships, tying for 13th, to help Hillsdale earn a top five finish in the conference as a team.
Both players team with a third exciting young talent in fellow freshman Ryan O'Rourke to give Hillsdale a strong core to build with over the next three years. Those players, along with rising junior Maxwell Burns, other returners and incoming freshmen, will look to help Hillsdale move up the G-MAC standings and return to the NCAA DII Super Regional in the 2024-25 season.