WESTFIELD CENTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's golf team, on a quest for its first top-three North Coast Athletic Conference Championships finish since 1998, is now tied for third-place with one round to play at Westfield Country Club's par-70, 6,733-yard North Course. The Fighting Scots, which entered the day one stroke back of Kenyon College, fired a 298, one better than the Owls' 299, running both totals to 601.
Wooster's 298, which marked the third-lowest team round of the year, was spearheaded by junior Jacob Ullom, who sits in sixth-place at 146. Ullom fired a second straight 3-over-par 73, which was kicked off with a birdie on the 426-yard, par-4 10th hole. Ullom pared all three par three holes on the back nine of Westfield, which is where Saturday's men's round started. He finished with four straight pars to make the turn a 1-over-par and had a seven-hole run of pars on the front nine.
Sophomore Krish Nayak is within the conference's top-10 at 149, which is the ninth-place score. Nayak played Westfield's front nine at even par Saturday, with the entire game together early following the turn, evidenced by birdies on the par-4, 452-yard second hole and the par-3, 168-yard third hole. Nayak's front nine stayed a 2-under-par until the eighth hole and he had four circles overall on the card on Saturday.
Junior Tyler Hilbert is in the hunt for an all-conference placing at 19th-place at 153. He followed up Friday's 76 with a 77. Hilbert had a strong closing stretch, going 2-over-par on the front nine, headlined by a birdie on the par-4, 436-yard fourth hole. Hilbert played nine holes at par or better.
First-year Gabe Guthrie's five-stroke bounce back vaulted him up to a tie for 27th-place at 155. Guthrie fired a 75 Saturday. He gathered some momentum late in the round with back-to-back birdies on the par-4, 332-yard fifth hole and the par-3, 365-yard sixth hole. Guthrie had 11 holes at par or better on the day and played the final five holes at 1-under-par.
Junior David Dennis is tied for 31st-place at 157 after a Saturday 79. He had 12 pars on the scorecard for round two of the conference championships.
Noteworthy, Saturday marked the second time this year Wooster's entire lineup has been in the 70s.
Wittenberg University leads the eight-team field at 581 and carries an 11-stroke lead over Denison University into the final round. Individually, Wittenberg's J.F. Aber continues to lead at 143.
Wooster tees off starting at 12:36 p.m. on Sunday on hole one. Following the conclusion of Sunday's round, the NCAC will announce the all-conference teams and major award winners. All-conference laurels go to those within the top-15 in the field.
