OWENSBORO, KY - It was a week to remember for the Kentucky Wesleyan Men's Golf Team. After finishing in eighth place at last year's G-MAC Championships, the Panthers saw themselves in first place after 54-holes, shooting rounds of 292-287-290 to finish with an 869 (+5), eight strokes better than their closest competitor. On Wednesday, the Panthers matched up with the Findlay Oilers in Medal Match Play for the G-MAC title, and fell 3-2 in an extremely tight match.
On the individual side,
Tyler Nickol cemented himself as quite possibly the greatest golfer in Kentucky Wesleyan history, as the senior took home the G-MAC individual title with a three-round score of 209 (-7). This gave him the individual G-MAC title by two strokes, making him the first Kentucky Wesleyan Men's Golfer to win a conference title since Pat Conway won the GLVC title back in 1982. Nickol found himself tied for seventh after round one, but a 67 (-5) in round two put him in the lead by one stroke. On an extremely windy Tuesday morning, Nickol held on, leading from start to finish en-route to the title.
As a team, Wesleyan found themselves in the thick of it after round one, as they sat in a tie for third with Northwood after shooting a 292 (+4). The Panthers didn't let up in the second round, as they used a strong back half to finish with a 287 (-1), vaulting them to first place after day one. On day three, they continued their strong play, as their score of 290 (+2) was the best of the day.
Leading the way was the man himself,
Tyler Nickol, who's win marked the third of his career. Following up Nickol's performance was
Evan Beery, who went 75-72-72 to finish with a 219 (+3), just outside the top ten in a tie for 11th.
Jonah Graham came through with rounds of 74-76-73 (223, +7) to tie for 17th. Freshman
Thomas Scott showed why he'll be a key piece for Coach
Ken Badylak for a long time, as he went 72-81-74 (227, +11) to take 24th.
Evan Schumacher finished in a tie for 34th with a 231 (+15). His 72 in the second round was a huge part in the Panthers securing a spot in medal match play.
Over the course of three rounds, the Panthers tied for the top team on par-4 scoring (+19), and were the outright leader on par-5 scoring (-15).
Tyler Nickol led the field in par-4 scoring (-5), and was second on the par-5's (-8).
Evan Beery wasn't far behind Nickol on the par-4's, as he finished at +1, tied for sixth.
On Wednesday, the Panthers and Oilers matched up for medal match play. Facing an experienced Findlay team who has made multiple trips to the NCAA regional the past few years, Wesleyan saw themselves tied a 2-2 after
Evan Beery and
Tyler Nickol each got wins.
Jonah Graham, down two shots after hole 15, made a huge birdie on 16 to tie things up after his opponent, Findlay's Donnie Professori, made a bogey. After 18 holes the golfers saw themselves tied and went into a sudden death playoff for the championship. Both individuals made par on 18 to start things off, sending them and probably about 50 onlookers down to hole 10. Both individuals hit solid drives, but Professori, who has competed in two straight NCAA Championships, chipped it within an inch for birdie. Graham put in great effort, but his 13 foot putt for birdie was an inch to the right, giving Findlay the win. With a tall task of going up against one of the G-MAC's top golfers (2nd place behind Nickol), Graham put in his second best round of the year (67 at Tiffin) and his best competitive round ever at the Pearl, shooting a 70 to get into the playoff.
The Panthers await their NCAA Regional fate as the regional committee has their selection call on Friday.
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