The Oglethorpe men's golf team fired its best round of the two-day, 54-hole Gordin Collegiate Classic Tuesday morning at the Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, putting up a two-over 290 to improve from sixth to fifth after a 12-over 876 over the course of the tournament. That put them 22 strokes behind champions Berry and 12 behind fourth-place Rhodes.
Meanwhile, Oglethorpe Director of Golf Jim Owen was honored with the Richard Gordin Award on Tuesday for his numerous contributions to Division III golf. The award is given during the final round of each edition of the Gordin Classic. The award and the tournament are named for the legendary long-time coach of the Ohio Wesleyan program. That institution hosts the Gordin Classic every year.
On the course, the Stormy Petrels were led by freshman Jacob Arnett, who finished tied for 12th after posting the low round by a Petrel on the day. He fired a four-under 68 Tuesday to finish at even-par 216 for the tournament, eight strokes back of individual medalist Jackson Collier of Methodist. Senior David Kleckner and freshman Kyle Shealy earned top 25 finishes, tying with three others for 22nd. Shealy improved on his second-round score by seven strokes, posting a one-under 71 for the day, while Kleckner put up a three-over 75. They both finished at four-over 220 for the tournament, 12 strokes back of Collier.
Freshman Patrick Mills also competed well for the Petrels over the course of the week. After posting back-to-back one-over-par rounds, he finished his tournament with a six-over 78. For the week, he finished tied for 32nd at eight-over 224. Senior Thomas Jeffries-Harrison rounded out the scorecard for Oglethorpe, putting up a four-over 76 on Tuesday and coming in tied for 45th with a 14-over 230.
Berry won the championship with an impressive 10-under 854 over the course of 54 holes. Methodist finished second, coming in eight strokes behind the Vikings, while Wittenberg finished just a stroke back of that in third. Rhodes finished fourth just an additional stroke behind Wittenberg.
"The Gordin Classic draws the top 12 teams in the country each year, so it's a very difficult tournament to win," said Owen. "The goal is to try and win against the best of the best. We didn't really have our 'A' game across the board this week. No one put together three consecutive rounds of great golf, which is what you need to win a tournament like this and what the top four teams in this tournament had. We gutted it out, though, and played well enough to finish fifth amid a strong field of teams in the five to 10 range. It's a respectable showing in this super-elite field. We were just a click off this week, but we'll look forward to quickly turning around and heading right back out there for the Royal Lakes invitational."
On receiving the Richard Gordin Award, Owen was excited and humbled: "It is very special to have my name and Dr. Gordin's name used in the same sentence. He is one of the mentors and founding fathers of Division III golf and I'm very appreciative to have been selected by the Gordin Classic committee on the 25th anniversary of the tournament."
The Petrels will next be in action on Monday when they start the two-day Oglethorpe/Royal Lakes Fall Invitational at Royal Lakes Golf and Country Club in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
Day 1 Recap
The Oglethorpe men's golf team had an eventful 36 holes Monday at the prestigious Gordin Collegiate Classic at the Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, putting up a three-over 291 over the first 18 holes to hold down third place, then posting a seven-over 295 over the second 18 to settle back into sixth place after Day 1 with a 10-over 586. That puts the Stormy Petrels 11 strokes back of leaders and SAA rivals Berry headed into Tuesday's final round.
The Petrels were led by senior David Kleckner, who found himself in a tie for 14th at the end of the day with a one-over 73 and an even-par 72 over his two rounds. That puts him at one-over 145 for the tournament, seven strokes back of St. John Fisher's Corey Haas for the individual lead. Freshman Patrick Mills had a very consistent day, carding back-to-back rounds of one-over 73 to end the day at two-over 146. That put him in a tie for 22nd and eight strokes back of the lead.
Two more freshmen also played well for the Petrels on the day. Jacob Arnett finished the day tied for 26th after firing consecutive rounds of two-over 74 and coming in at four-over 148. Meanwhile, Kyle Shealy posted the best round of any Petrel all day in the morning, firing a one-under 71 on the difficult Columbus course. His second round of six-over 78 still puts him the upper half of the 60-player field, tied for 30th at five-over 149.
Senior Thomas Jeffries-Harrison rounded out the scorecard for the Petrels, putting up scores of six-over 78 and four-over 76 on the day to enter the clubhouse at 10-over 154. He is tied for 44th entering the final round.
Berry leads the 54-hole tournament with Wittenberg nipping at their heels, just a stroke back. SAA member Rhodes is in third place, three back of the Vikings, while Methodist and St. John Fisher round out the top five. Methodist finds themselves five strokes back of Berry while St. John Fisher is six back. The tightly-bunched top 10 should make for a competitive final round on Tuesday. Berry and 10th-place Guilford are just 19 strokes apart and there is no more than a five-stroke difference between any consecutive leaderboard spots from one through 10.
The Petrels will get started bright and early on Tuesday morning, as Jeffries-Harrison will begin the Oglethorpe day on the first hole at 8:30 a.m. Kleckner will be the final Petrel to tee off and he'll get started at 9:06 a.m.
