Willamette is tied for 18th Place after First Day of NCAA Championship

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Willamette University carded a team score of 304 and was tied for 18th place after the first day of the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship on Tuesday, May 11 at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling, West Virginia. Austin Davis (Jr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) led the Bearcats with a 3-over par 73 on the par 70 Palmer Course. Davis was tied for 23rd in the individual standings.

All 37 teams and 192 golfers competed in the first round, with half of the field on the Palmer Course and the other half on the par 71 Jones Course. At the end of the second round on Wednesday, May 12, the top 18 teams will make the cut for the final two rounds on Thursday, May 13 and Friday, May 14. The top six individuals not on the advancing teams also will make the cut.

Davis's 73 included four birdies. He shot a 1-under 34 on the back nine with three birdies and two bogeys. Davis was followed on Willamette's results sheet by Alex Weirth (So., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy), who shot a 75 and was tied for 48th place. Weirth recorded a score of even-par 35 on the back nine, while creating three birdies and three bogeys. Aunders Erickson (Grad., Portland, OR/Westview HS/Ohio Wesleyan Univ.) carded a 76 and was tied for 65th. Erickson led WU on the front nine with a 2-over 37.

Also competing for the Bearcats were Andrew Kibbee (Jr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS) and Riley Lankford (So./Fy., Pilot Rock, OR/Pilot Rock HS). Kibbee completed the round with an 80, while Lankford registered an 87.

Illinois Wesleyan University was in first place on the team leaderboard after 18 holes with a score of 6-over par 290 on the Jones Course. Huntingdon College (Ala.) was second with 9-over par 289 on the Palmer Course. St. John's University (Minn.) was third at 15-over par, while five teams were tied for fourth place at 16-over par. Tied for fourth were the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), Piedmont College (Ga.), Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.), Emory University (Ga.), and Methodist University (N.C.). Willamette ended the day at 24-over, just two strokes out of 15th, five strokes out of the top 10, and eight strokes out of fifth.

Three golfers were tied for the individual lead at 1-under par after the first round. Will Hocker of Webster University (Mo.) shot a 1-under 69 on the Palmer Course, while Glavin Schugel of St. John's and Jimmy Morton of Illinois Wesleyan each carded a 1-under 70 on the Jones Course. Four golfers were tied for fourth place at even-par, with Mario Perezcassar III from Piedmont, William Sammons of Mary Hardin-Baylor University (Texas), and Pierce Robinson of Washington and Lee University (Va.) shooting 70s on the Palmer Course and Jason Folker of Carnegie Mellon shooting 71 on the Jones Course.

Five golfers were tied for eighth place at 1-over par. Ten golfers were tied for 13th place at 2-over par. Davis of Willamette was one of 13 golfers tied for 23rd at 3-over par.