Men's Golf | 5/11/2021 7:22:00 PM
WHEELING, W.Va. Tuesday's opening round of the NCAA 2021 Division III Men's Golf Championship closed with Methodist tied for fourth place with four other teams. With a total of eight teams occupying the top four spots on the leaderboard, Day 2 represents a good opportunity for the Monarchs to create separation ahead of the 18-team cut-down that occurs after Wednesday's round.
Golftstat's top-ranked Monarchs (300, 16-over par) sit behind first place Illinois Wesleyan University (290, +6) but will have three more days in the four-day national championship to make up those 10 strokes.
THE ESSENTIALS
Event: NCAA 2021 Division III Men's Golf Championship
Host institution: Bethany (W.Va.) College
Participants: 37 teams and 6 individuals; 191 golfers
Location: Oglebay Resort (Speidel Jones Golf Course, par-71, 6857 yards; Palmer Golf Course at Oglebay, par-70, 6621 yards); Wheeling, W.Va.
Top 3 teams: 1 – Illinois Wesleyan University (290, 6-over par), 2 – Huntingdon College (289, +9), 3 – St. John's (MN) University (299, +15)
Top 3 individuals: T-1 – Will Hocker, Webster (Mo.) University (33-36—69, 1-under par), T-1 – Jimmy Morton, Illinois Wesleyan (35-35—70, -1), T-1 – Glavine Schugel, St. Johns (Minn.) University (37-33—70, -1)
THE DETAILS
- Methodist opened Round 1 on the Speidel Jones Course, starting the morning from the first tee.
- Andre Chi (37-35—72, 1-over par) and Henry Angier (35-39—74, +3) led the way for the Monarchs, especially through the front nine. Tied for eighth, Chi was the definition of steady after carding a double-bogey on the par-4 3rd and par-3 4th holes. Over his next 14 holes, Chi recorded two birdies (on Nos. 6 and 8) and 12 par-putts, including 10 consecutive pars.
- Tied for 23rd, Angier had a birdie on the par-5 8th hole and par putts on the other eight holes in the front nine. He had a much tougher time in his back nine as his two birdies in his back nine (on the par-4 13th and 16th holes) were undone by six bogeys.
- Cooper Hrabak (38-37—75, +4) was pretty consistent on Day 1 despite not recording a birdie. Instead, Hrabak carded 14 par putts, which is tied for the team-high. After opening the tournament with a bogey on the first hole, Hrabak strung together four pars on his next four holes and carded nine pars over his next 10. He finishes Day 1 tied for 36th on the individual leaderboard after a total of four bogeys.
- Cameron Cappuzzo (T-93rd, 40-39—79, +8) and Zane Brownrigg (T-160th, 42-43—85, +14) round out the five golfers for Methodist. Cappuzzo carded 11 par putts, six bogeys, and one double-bogey. Cappuzzo did have a string of four straight par putts between the 7th and 10th holes. For Brownrigg, he will look to be better than his Day 1 performance, which featured three double-bogeys and eight bogeys. He had three consecutive pars on holes 12 through 14 but closed with three bogeys and a double-bogey in the final four holes.
OF NOTE
- Methodist, in its 40th consecutive NCAA appearance, is seeking its 13th national title.
- The top nine teams are a who's-who of those ranked by Golfstat.com. Eight teams are ranked 10th or better, with third-place and 12th-ranked St. Johns (Minn.) crashing the party.
- Webster (ranked 30th; 299, +18) and Otterbein University (35th; 301, +21) are two teams that find themselves out of Golfstat's top 25 but in the tournament's top 12.
- Six teams in the top 10 after Day 1 played on the Palmer Course compared to five teams that played on the Speidel Jones Course. Illinois Wesleyan and St. Johns are two squads that played on the Speidel Jones Course, along with Methodist and others.
UP NEXT
- Methodist switches to the Palmer course Wednesday with a tee time of 10:50 a.m.
- The championship cuts down to the top 18 teams -- and top six individuals not on those teams -- after Wednesday and completes the championship's Rounds 3 and 4 on Thursday and Friday.
