First-Years Have Scots Positioned for Hopeful Charge Into Top-Five Come Final Round of NCACs

The College of Wooster men's golf team remained in sixth-place after 36 holes at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, but the Fighting Scots are well within striking distance to vie for a top-four showing during Sunday's final round. Wooster's 619 is two strokes behind Denison University and nine behind Kenyon College. The Scots shot a 312 on Saturday at the par-72, 6910-yard Westbrook Country Club in Mansfield, Ohio.

The steady play of Wooster's first-year class is one of the main reasons why the Scots are right in the thick of things as far as a top-four placement is concerned. Colin O'Hern birded his final two holes of the day – the par-5, 506-yard No. 8, and the par-3, 180-yard No. 9 – to finish at 5-over-par. O'Hern, who started on hole No. 10, as did the entire men's field on Saturday, is tied for sixth-place at 151, and is three strokes back of a top-five placement.

Roney matched O'Hern for the team's low round of the day at 77. In fact, Roney was positioned for 76 until a bogey on No. 9, but he did have a circle on the card for the par-5, 505-yard No. 5. Roney played the back nine at 3-over-par, thanks to pars on the final four holes, and he pared three straight holes after his birdie on the front nine. Roney is currently part of a seven-way tie for 15th-place at 155.

Sophomore Evan Ferrara is one of the six other 155s on the leaderboard. Ferrara shot a 7-over-par 79 on Saturday, and played the front nine at 3-over-par. Ferrara's round was headlined by a birdie on the par-3, 160-yard No. 6, and he had nothing worse than a bogey on his scorecard.

Senior Brenden Tully is within reach of the top-25 at 158, and will begin his final collegiate round in a tie for 27th-place. Tully was 1-under-par through two holes after a birdie on the par-4, 359-yard No. 11, and he played the final six holes on the front nine at 1-over-par.

Sophomore Jimmy Hinton turned in a second straight 81 and is tied for 34th-place. Hinton charged back on the front nine with a 3-over-par 39, and he logged two birdies over his first nine holes of the day.

Wittenberg University carries a six-stroke lead over Ohio Wesleyan University into the final round. Allegheny College's Louis Olsakovsky remains the clubhouse leader at 6-under-par 138 thanks to a blistering 67 on Saturday.

Wooster tees off from hole No. 1 at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday.