WESTFIELD CENTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's golf team's 286 on day two of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships necessitated a visit to the team's on-campus special archive collection, where it was determined the Fighting Scots logged the program's lowest round since at least 1985. Wooster's 14-stroke storm-back enabled the team to climb into a tie for fifth-place with one round remaining at the conference championships.
Wooster's most recent lower team round that was found took place during the program's 1975 NCAA Div. III national championship season, but it is important to note there are significant gaps in program records in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The 1975 national championship team shot at worst a 281 at Kent State University's Tournament, or the score could have been a 279 as players who played in events that season gave the appearance of a six-count-four format potentially being used in the regular season.
Senior Tyler Hilbert's 1-under-par 69 - a career-best by three strokes - was at the forefront of the 286. Hilbert is now tied for 19th-place at 145. The Saturday scorecard was unblemished until the 17th hole for the senior, and he immediately bounced back with a par on the par-5, 604-yard 18th hole to finish at 1-under-par at the 6,646-yard course. Hilbert was rock solid on the front nine, scoring par on all nine holes, and he went to 1-under-par by chipping in for birdie on the par-3, 177-yard 11th hole. A second birdie followed on the par-5, 552-yard 14th hole, which moved Hilbert to 2-under-par.
Classmate Jacob Ullom backed Hilbert up with an even-par 70 and is tied for 12th-place at 144. Even was the score for Ullom at the turn, as he immediately bounced back from a bogey on No. 8 with a birdie on the par-4, 424-yard ninth hole. Ullom's round was at 1-under-par through 13, with the third birdie in a six-hole stretch going down on No. 12. Ullom played 15 holes at par or better on the day.
First-year Andrew Carey followed up a NCAC-debut 72 with a 73. He is tied with Hilbert in 19th-place at 145. Carey found immediate success with a birdie on the par-4, 421-yard opening hole and was back to 1-under-par after scoring a birdie on the par-3, 168-yard third hole. Seven straight pars rolled in for Carey starting on hole five, and that was part of a larger run of 11 pars in a 12-hole stretch.
Sophomore Gabe Guthrie's 74 rounded out Wooster's scorers. Guthrie is in 31st-place at 152. Guthrie finished strong, rolling in a birdie on the 604-yard 18th hole to get to even par for the back nine. Guthrie played 14 holes at par or better on the day, including holes 13 through 18, where the sophomore was 1-under-par during that stretch. A run of five straight pars started on the par-3, 168-yard third hole.
Junior Krish Nayak shot an 80 for the second straight day and is at 160 with 18 holes to play. Nayak logged seven pars on the back nine and 10 for the round.
Wooster is tied with Denison University at 586. Kenyon College leads the eight-team field with an even par 560. Wittenberg University is five strokes back at 565, while DePauw University and Wabash College are tied for third-place at 568.
Wooster's final round starts on hole 10 at 12:50 p.m.
