BOULDER CITY, Nev. — The No. 15 Wittenberg men's golf team continued moving up the leaderboard Thursday, shooting a 1-over-par 289 to improve three positions to 14th place at the end of the third round of the NCAA Division III Championships.

The Basics

• Venue: Boulder Creek Golf Club - Boulder City, Nev., Par 72, Yardage: 7,377
• The tournament is hosted by UNLV and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
• Wittenberg is ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, which was released on May 3, and is No. 16 in the latest NCAA Division III Scoreboard rankings, powered by Clippd, which was released on Monday.
• The Tigers made the initial 43-team field as an at-large selection after finishing as the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships runner-up to Kenyon. Senior J.F. Aber (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy) was the individual medalist at the NCACs.
• Wittenberg, the 2017 Division III national champion, is making its third straight appearance, and 29th overall, in the NCAA Championships. They finished seventh in 2022 at Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., and 13th last year at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky.
• The team and individual champions will be determined after 72 holes of play or the conclusion of the last fully completed round.
• The initial field consisted of 221 competitors. At the end of 36 holes of competition on Wednesday, the field was cut to the top 18 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams. The Tigers finished in a two-way tie for 17th after 36 holes, making the cut by a margin of two strokes.
• No. 3 Carnegie Mellon is the defending champion.

The Tournament - Day 3

• After making the cut at the end of Wednesday's second round, the Tigers shot 1-over-par on Thursday to sit in 14th place going into Friday's final round with a three-day total of a 13-over-par 304-284-289—877. They trail 13th-place St. John's (Minn.) by three strokes.
• No. 7 Huntingdon shot a round-best score of 12-under-par on Thursday to improve five spots to sixth place.
• No. 3 Carnegie Mellon sits atop the team leaderboard after three rounds with a 15-under-par 282-287-280—849. No. 1 Methodist and No. 18 Redlands are tied for second at 14-under-par, No. 23 Kenyon is fourth at 9-under-par, and No. 2 Emory is fifth at 6-under-par.
• Junior Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) led Wittenberg on Thursday with a 3-under-par 69. Sophomore Mark Sulek (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) shot an even-par 72, Aber shot a 1-over-par 73, and senior Nicklaus Pidgeon (Homeworth, Ohio/West Branch) and junior Joshua Wright (Wadworth, Ohio/Akron Hoban) each shot a 3-over-par 75.
• Sulek recorded an eagle on the par-5 second hole.
• Pidgeon had a team-high five birdies on Thursday to go with four each from Sulek and Yarbrough.
• Yarbrough is the top Tiger in the individual standings after three rounds of play. He is tied for 21st with a 2-under-par 76-69-69—214, Aber is tied for 37th with a 1-over-par 76-68-73—217, Sulek is tied for 55th with a 4-over-par 76-72-72—220, Pidgeon is tied for 81st with a 10-over-par 76-75-75—226, and Wright is tied for 95th with a 30-over-par 86-85-75—246. The reduced field consists of 96 competitors.
• Huntingdon's Brett Viator shot a round-best 8-under-par 64 on Thursday and is tied atop the individual leaderboard with Oglethorpe's Michael O'Sullivan at 9-under-par after three rounds. There is a three-way tie for third at 6-under-par.

Quote - Junior Jake Yarbrough

• "The last three days have been a lot of fun. I came into this tournament with zero expectations. Staying patient and trusting my preparation the last couple of weeks is the only thing I can lean on out here, and it's fun to see it pay off."

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Friday for the fourth and final round of the NCAA Division III Championships at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev.