Tigers in Middle of Pack After Day 1 at NCAA Championships

PENFIELD, NY - Wittenberg Men's Golf battled through a cold, windy early morning round on a Midvale Country Club course set up for championship competition to finish the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships in 20th place out of 43 teams. Wittenberg carded a team score of 305 (17-over-par) in the opening round. 

Twenty-two of the teams joined Wittenberg by playing the par-72, 6,558-yard Midvale Country Club course, which yielded an average score of 77.72, on Day 1. The other 21 teams opened the championships at Cobblestone Creek Country Club in Victor, NY, which is playing as a par-72, 6,770-yard course and featured a scoring average of 78.09.

Wittenberg will be among the teams playing at Cobblestone Creek in the second round on Wednesday on what is expected to be another cold day that will also feature wet conditions. After 36 holes of competition, the field will be cut to the top 18 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams.

Leading the way individually in the opening round was freshman Mitch Bolte (Newark, OH / Newark). He shot a team-best 73 to stand 17th in the 225-player field after the opening round. After starting his day with a birdie on the 10th hole, Bolte finished strong with an even-par 36 on the front nine, highlighted by an eagle three on the eighth hole.

Next up individually for the Tigers were freshman Mikey Schutte (Cincinnati, OH / Elder) and senior Jake Yarbrough (Dublin, OH / Jerome), who both carded rounds of 76. The players are in a tie for 75th after the first round.

Junior Mark Sulek (Delaware, OH / Hayes) rounded out the Tigers' scorers on Day 1 as he finished with an 80 to stand 152nd overall.

"The course seemed to play tougher than in the fall, especially with the wind and cold conditions today," said Head Coach David Wetterich. "So far, I think we're in a good position heading into Day 2. The plan is to buckle down and embrace the tougher conditions moving in to the rest of the tournament."

Illinois Wesleyan leads the tournament after the opening day with a two-over-par score of 290, four strokes ahead of John Carroll and Carleton.  

Written By: Ryan Maurer