by Alan Babbitt
The Hope College men's golf team made a valiant effort to overtake the league leader during the final round of the fall season.
The Flying Dutchmen won the 36-hole MIAA Fall Finish this weekend with a two-round total of 615 amid challenging conditions at The Pohlcat Golf Course in Mount Pleasant.
Hope shot a total of 315 on Saturday to place two strokes ahead of Calvin University but finished second to the Knights in the seasonal standings by three strokes. After 108 holes, Hope carded a six-round total of 1,795.
The Flying Dutchmen qualified for next spring's NCAA Division III Championship 54-hole tournament and will host the first round at a date to be determined. Calvin will host the final two rounds. Trine University and Adrian College also advanced to the national qualifier.
"The course was challenging. They had it set up quite tough both days. It was fair and fun," head coach Scott Lokers said. "We would like to win, but I'm really proud of our guys on their effort all year long. We had a chance. We were in it all year. We just fell a little bit short. Congratulations to Calvin."
On Saturday, junior Jack Crawford of Carmel, Indiana (Carmel HS) carded a 5-over-par 77 to lead the Flying Dutchmen. Crawford tied for sixth overall (77-77—154.).
Sophomore Will Robson of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) shot a 78. Robson was runner-up for the tournament (71-78—149), one stroke behind Trine's Mark Civanich (79-69—148). Civanich was the only MIAA golfer under par on Saturday.
Pictured, from left, Will Robson and Jack Crawford
Sophomore Logan DeWitt of Zeeland, Michigan (Holland Christian) tied for 11th (74-83—157).
Junior Seth Almquist of Minneapolis, Minnesota (Wayzata) and freshman Jack Guerrera of Northville, Michigan (Detroit Catholic Central) were among three golfers who tied for 14th at 159: Almquist at 78-81 and Guerrera at 80-79.
Playing as an individual, freshman Ben Jackson of Fort Wayne, Indiana (Carroll) tied for 20th (82-80—162).
On Saturday, Trine shot the low round at 303. After Hope and Calvin, fourth-place Adrian had a 330.
"I'm really pleased with our growth," Lokers said. "Today, we had two juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman in our top five. I'm really happy about the depth of our team. I think that will serve us well going forward."
