Statesmen Paired with Holy Cross, Asbury in Opening Rounds of Nationals

William Penn University Athletics

William Penn University Athletics

by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–Despite qualifying for its first-ever national event, the William Penn men’s golf team should be considered the best squad in its group as the pairings for the 67th NAIA National Championships were announced Friday.

WPU, which enters the Championships 23rd in the nation (155 points), is making its first-ever trip to nationals which will be held Tuesday-Friday, May 15-18 at TPC Deere Run Golf Course in Silvis, Ill. (Note: The NAIA lists that William Penn qualified in 1960, but that has yet to be confirmed)

For the first two rounds, the Statesmen will be paired with #34 Holy Cross (Ind.) and unranked Asbury (Ky.). The trio will open nationals on Tuesday by teeing off on Hole #10 at 12:30 p.m.; they then return to action Wednesday at 7:50 a.m. on Hole #1.

The field will be cut down to the top 17 teams after Thursday’s third round.

William Penn, which won this week’s Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships, owns a current team average of 303.8 (low of 288). Zachary Chegwidden (So., Essex, England, Business Management) heads the Statesmen as he is ranked 44th in the GolfStat rankings with an adjusted scoring average of 73.2, while Sebastian Rulis (Sr., Helsingor, Denmark, Business Management) is 144th with a 75.2 adjusted average. The team, which has won four tournament crowns, is 24th in GolfStat.

Holy Cross, coached by T.J. Mannen, earned an automatic berth with a season-best runner-up finish at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. The Saints, who are rated 71st in GolfStat, won two tourney crowns during 2017-2018. Holy Cross last appeared at nationals in 2012 where it tied for 14th.

Asbury, coached by Joseph Barr, is unranked (#96 in GolfStat’s rankings) and earned an automatic berth by placing second at the River States Conference Tournament. Matthew McCurry is 145th in GolfStat’s rankings with an adjusted average of 74.7. The Eagles recorded three runner-up finishes this year.

Asbury’s appearance is its first in program history. It will be the first time William Penn will see either team this season.

Posted by on May 5 2018. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News