by Mackenzie McMahon
The Hope College men's golf team is set to make its return to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
The orange and blue secured their autoberth after they held off Trine University in Day three of the MIAA NCAA Championships qualifying Tournament, collecting a score of 915 over the three rounds, including a final round 315 at Stonewater Country Club in Caledonia. Trine came in second at 925. Calvin University (952) took third, while Adrian College (979) was fourth.
"I am so happy for this entire team, we don't have anyone on our team that's ever been to Nationals, … so to get back was a goal for us and it's just such a great experience. So for these guys to be able to now go and have that experience I'm so excited and happy for them," head coach Scott Lokers said.
This will be the first time since 2019 that the Flying Dutchmen appear in the NCAA Championships, after the 2020 and the 2021 Tournaments were canceled. It is their 15th team appearance at the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman Jack Guerrera (Northville, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central) fired a three-over-par 74 in the final round of the tournament to finish second on the day behind Trine's Mitch Lowney who shot a 71.
Other Hope scorers on Wednesday were: sophomore Logan DeWitt with 79; junior Jack Crawford with 79; freshman Ben Jackson finishing with 83; and sophomore Will Robson with 88.
"[The start of the AQ tournament] is I think when we turned the corner and we were able to continue that, yesterday and today, and today wasn't the prettiest round, but it didn't need to be the prettiest round, we got it done," said Lokers. "The five guys that played in this automatic qualifier, all five of them contributed, and all had some adversity but all had great success, it really was all five that we were leaning on."
The NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship tees off Tuesday-Friday, May 10-13, at Mission Inn Resort and Club at Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.
