Willamette Places 11th at NCAA Division III Preview; Olson Ties for 16th

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

BOULDER CITY, Nev. -- The Willamette University men's golf team finished in 11th place as the NCAA Division III Preview concluded on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at the Boulder Creek Golf Course. Brock Olson (So., Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS) of Willamette tied for 16th place in the final individual standings. The tournament was played on the Desert Hawk and Coyote Run courses at Boulder Creek, with nine holes on each course each day. 

Willamette achieved a score of 295 in the third round for an overall score of 895. The Bearcats carded a 314 in the first round and a 286 in the second round. Willamette ended the 54-hole event just one stroke away from tying for ninth place and only two strokes out of tying for eighth.

Methodist University (N.C.) won the team championship with a score of 14-under par 850. The Monarchs shot a tournament low of 22-under par 266 in the third round after recording scores of 301 and 283 in the first two rounds. Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) took second place at 875 (303-286-286). Emory University (Ga.) and Washington and Lee University (Va.) tied for third place at 876. Emory registered scores of 313-289-274, while W&L shot 310-281-285. Fifth place went to Illinois Wesleyan University at 877 (301-289-287).

Sewanee: University of the South (Tenn.) was sixth at 879 (297-294-288) and Babson College (Mass.) placed eighth at 893 (306-297-289). Schreiner University (Texas) and the University of Texas at Dallas tied for ninth place with scores of 894. Schreiner shot 309-295-290 and UT-Dallas shot 315-293-286. Willamette held 11th place at 895 and Wittenberg University (Ohio) was 12th at 901 (313-296-292). A total of 18 teams from across the nation competed over the three days of the tournament.

Olson was Willamette's top finisher as he concluded the third round with an overall score of 220. He shot an 81 in the first round and then carded a 7-under par 65, before finishing with a 2-over 74. Olson tied with four other golfers for 16th place. Preston Lightle (Fy., Victoria, BC, Canada/Belmont Senior Secondary School) provided the Bearcats with a score of 224 on rounds of 73, 77, and 74, as he tied for 33rd place.

Alexander Papajohn (Fy., Parker, CO/Lutheran HS) of WU shot 226 overall, including an even-par 72 in the third round that included an eagle 3 on the par-5 2nd hole. He tied for 41st place. Oliver Smith (So., San Jose, CA/Pioneer HS) shot 227 (81-71-75) and Jack McMullin (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) of WU shot 233 (80-76-77).

Grayson Maddox from Sewanee claimed medalist honors at the top of the leaderboard. He shot 10-under par 206 for the tournament with scores of 70, 65, and 71. Cameron Cappuzzo (71-71-68) of Methodist finished second at 6-under par 210. Third place was a three-way tie at 3-under par 213 by David D'Agostino (80-70-63) of Methodist, John Kim (70-75-68) of Pomona-Pitzer College (Calif.), and Aiden Spampinato (74-71-68) of Methodist. The 63 by D'Agostino in the third round was the low round of the tournament.

Four golfers shared sixth place at 216. Tied for sixth were JF Aber from Wittenberg, who shot 74-71-68, Tomas Amaya of Babson, who carded 72-73-71, Bobby Beaubien from Illinois Wesleyan, who shot 76-71-69, and Cannon Crane, who shot 78-69-69.

The NCAA Division III Preview completed the fall season for the Willamette men's golf team. The Bearcats will return to action during the spring semester.