Methodist University used every bit of the lead that they built heading into the final round of the 2010 Division III NCAA Men's Golf Championship. The Methodist University Monarchs won the event by a single stroke over the Guilford College Quakers who closed with a vengeance.
Methodist began the round in the lead by five strokes. The Monarchs faired relatively well on their opening nine. Their top player, Josh Schrader went out with a 2-under 34, and their number three player, Josh Speight opened with a 1-under 35. However, as the pressure mounted on the final nine of the National Championship and the Quakers from Guilford College tried to mount a comeback, the Monarchs struggled a bit coming in. After opening with reasonable 1-over 37's, Methodist's Alex Weir and Liam Friedman struggled on the back nine with a 40 and a 39, respectively.
The team's fate came down to how Speight, Howell, and Schrader would close their rounds. Despite bogeying his seventeenth hole, Speight birdied the par-5 18th to close with a 2-under 70. Howell bogeyed thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen, but steadied the ship and parred his final three holes to shoot a 3-over 75. Schrader needed to play his final three holes in no worse than 1-over-par to win the championship outright for the Monarchs. After parring sixteen and seventeen, Speight closed with a bogey to shoot an even-par 72 and win the 2010 NCAA Championship for Methodist University. The win is the Monarchs' first National Championship title since winning it in 1999.
Guilford College recorded the best team score of the round - a 5-under 283. Their cause was lead by Peter Latimer who fired a 4-under 68. Latimer finished in a tie for fifth place in the individual competition. Few surprises took place in the team competition. The top three teams heading into the event - Methodist University, Huntingdon College, and Guilford College - made up the top three teams at the close of the tournament. Perhaps the only performance that could qualify as a surprise came from Greensboro College, who was the number-four-ranked team in the nation heading into the event, but finished in a tie for eleventh.
Please subscribe (above) to get the final individual results, which will be published shortly.
Final team results (click here to view the full leader board):
1. Methodist University +29
2. Guilford College +30
3. Huntingdon College +33
4. St. John's University (MN) +43
5. University of La Verne +49
Comments