SANDESTIN, Fla.—The No. 10 Oglethorpe men's golf team was in the final pairing in Tuesday's final round of the Golfweek October Classic. Senior Jackson Hiller's runner-up individual finish led the way as the Stormy Petrels landed third at the prestigious event, which once again featured a heavy dose of some of NCAA Division III's top programs.
Hiller shot 69-74-67, his final round moving him up nine spots to a solo No. 2 finish, only one stroke off medalist honors. He was the first of three Petrels in the top 25 as Reid Korody (71-73-74) and Barton Abstein (77-67-75) took 22nd and 25th, respectively, to help the team earn its third top-three finish of the year.
It also came against another handful of the nation's best, as No. 3 Huntingdon, No. 6 Illinois Wesleyan, No. 11 Whitman, No. 20 Hampden-Sydney and No. 23 Trinity were all in attendance.
"We competed with a couple of top-10 teams right down to the wire," said Head Coach Jim Owen. "With a little bit better finish, we could have taken home the trophy. Destin boils down to hole numbers 15 and 17 and during the final hour of the event, Illinois Wesleyan played those two holes 5 under while we played them 1 over. That was basically the margin of victory."
Hole 15 is a driveable par 4 with a hidden hole location, making for an easy par but a difficult birdie if players try to force it. Hole 17 is a great part of the finishing stretch, a reachable par 5 that played down wind all three days.
"On Monday, we played those two holes 4 under," Owen continued. "We needed to replicate that today, but we had three birdies and a bogey, only 2 under. Illinois Wesleyan pulled away two more strokes so their one-stroke lead went to three as we both crossed 17."
Ryan Dunn, who also saw a positive move up the leaderboard on the final day, took 43rd individually with scores of 80-70-73. Freshman Ryan Gallagher finished in the top 100 at 95th after shooting 74-84-77.
As a team, Oglethorpe shot 291-284-289, settling in at No. 3 after finishing the second day second and only two strokes off the team lead.
"I was proud of our effort," Owen said. "It was good to be in the final pairing and play some thrilling, pressure-packed, decisive golf. We came up short, but I'm hoping we learned something about ourselves."
Tournament Notes
- Oglethorpe finished third in the field in par 3 scoring and fourth in the field in par 4 scoring.
- The team posted 157 pars and 43 birdies, ranking ninth and third, respectively.
- Abstein led the field by himself in par 3 scoring at 3 under.
- Hiller led the field by himself in birdies with 14 while finishing third overall in par 5 scoring at 6 under.
- Korody tallied 37 pars which ranked fifth.
Up Next
Oglethorpe closes the spring with a B team event when the Petrels travel to Rome, Georgia, for the Chick-fil-A Invitational hosted by Berry. The event is scheduled for Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 26-27, at Stonebridge Golf Club.
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