By Eva Dean Folkert
For the second day in a row, the Hope College men's golf team held off hard-charging rival Calvin College to claim the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament Championship and qualified to compete in the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship next month.
Coach Bob Ebels' Flying Dutchmen, the 2016 MIAA regular season champs, have advanced to play at the national championship for the fifth year in a row and for nine out of the last 11 years.
Hope and Calvin traded victories on each other's home courses during this spring's 54-hole MIAA, national qualifier play. On April 22, Hope walked away from Watermark Country Club, Calvin's home course, with a nine-stroke lead over the Knights after 18 holes.
This weekend at Wuskowhan Players Club, Hope's home course, Calvin won each round on Friday and Saturday, but only by two strokes each day. On Friday, Calvin beat Hope, 280 to 282. On Saturday, Hope shot 292 to Calvin's 290.
For the tournament's three rounds, Hope finished with a total of 866, Calvin with 871, Kalamazoo College with 910, and Trine University with 933.
Senior Winton Munch of Traverse City, Michigan (Central) led all golfers in the final round with a three-under 68.
Sophomore teammate Josh Gibson of Grandville, Michigan (Grandville) followed up his Hope record-setting day on Friday (in which he shot a six-under 65) with an even-par 71, putting him at fifth place on the day.
Only two other players were under par — Ben VanScoyk (69) and John Van Noord (70), both from Calvin.
For Hope, junior Kade Hoeksema of Byron Center, Michigan (South Christian) shot 76 to tie for eighth place, while sophomore Andrew Goble of Brighton, Michigan (Brighton) and sophomore Ben Kramer of Spring Lake, Michigan (Spring Lake( each came in with 77s, putting them in a tie for 12th.
The Flying Dutchmen will look forward to their next day of competition, now on the national stage, when they travel to Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, to compete against 41 other Division III teams from May 16-19, at Mission Inn Resort and Club. After 36 holes of competition, the field will be cut to the top 18 teams.
Last year, Hope tied for 23rd place in a field of 41 teams at the NCAA Division III Championships in Rochester, N.Y. Hope missed the cut as a team, but Munch advanced to the final two rounds and tied for 62nd individually with a 72-hole average of 78.8. Other Hope averages for 36 holes of play in 2016 were Gibson 77.5, Hoeksema 78.5, Goble 81.5, and Kramer 84.0.
