PROGRAM MILESTONES
Hope College reigned as the very first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion, winning the 1934 title. The Flying Dutchmen were champions again in 1947, but it took nearly 40 years before Hope would be atop the MIAA again winning the championship four consecutive years from 1986 to 1989. It would be nine years before Hope won a league crown again, and then between 1999 and 2021, the Flying Dutchmen won 15 MIAA titles.
The Flying Dutchmen finished a program-best sixth at the 2017 NCAA Division III Championships. They finished 42-over-par with a total stroke count of 1,194. They matched that finish at nationals in 2018, going 25-over-par with a total stroke count of 1,177.
Hope teams have qualified for the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships 17Â times, most recently during the 2023-24Â season.
The Flying Dutchmen traveled to Scotland in the summer of 2007 for their first international experience.
PLAYERS AND PERFORMANCES OF NOTE
Josh Gibson claimed Hope’s first individual national championship in golf after winning a one-hole playoff in Howie-in-the-Hills, Florida on May 19, 2017. Gibson was also the national runner-up in 2019. He was named the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Division III Golfer of the Year and was presented with the national honor by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus during the PGA Tour's Memorial at Muirfield Village Golf Club which was founded by Nicklaus.
Josh Gibson shot what is believed to be the lowest round by a Flying Dutchmen golfer with an 11-under 61 on September 15, 2017, at the Grande Golf Club in Adrian, Michigan. He finished with 10 birdies, 6 pars, 1 eagle and one bogey during the first round of the Irish Hills Invitational.
Winton Munch concluded his career in the spring of 2017 as a member of the NCAA Division III All-Freshman Team (2013-14), a four-time All-MIAA performer, a four-time national qualifier, and two-time league medalists.
Matt Lapham and Tommy Yamaoka achieved All-MIAA honors four consecutive years (2004-07). They led the Flying Dutchmen to the MIAA championship each of their years. Amazingly, they finished their MIAA career with the identical tournament stroke average of 73.3.
In 2004, Tommy Yamaoka was named to the NCAA Division III All-Freshman Team. In 2006-07, he was voted to the Ping All-America second team
Eric Wohlfeld and Josh Gibson were three-time conference medalists. Wohlfield in 1998, 1999, 2001; Gibson from 2016 to 2018. In 1999, Wohfield was voted the Division III National Freshman Player of the Year..
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Hope men's golf put together an amazing streak, winning MIAA medalist honors seven consecutive years from 1998 thru 2004.
- 1998 - Eric Wohlfield
- 1999 - Eric Wohlfield
- 2000 - Aaron Vandenberg
- 2001 - Eric Wohlfield
- 2002 - Justin Spyker
- 2003 - Ryan Shedd
- 2004 - Tommy Yamaoka
Hope's first MIAA medalist was Howard Jalving '50 who won the conference tournament in both 1947 and 1949.
The best 18-hole round by a Hope player during an MIAA regular season tournament is 67 strokes by Ryan Shedd in 2003.
The best 18-hole round by a Hope player during an MIAA qualifying tournament for the NCAA championships is 65 strokes by Nick Campbell in 2012 and Josh Gibson in 2017.
The 1986 MIAA champion Flying Dutchmen won every league tournament (a total of seven rounds hosted by each school), a first-time feat for America's oldest collegiate conference. The 2018 MIAA champion won every league round as well, winning four jamborees hosted four league schools and two rounds at the Fall Finish hosted at a neutral course, L.E. Kauffman Golf Course in Grand Rapids.
The 2020-21 season saw the Flying Dutchmen only compete in the spring. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the fall season. Hope tied for second place in the spring standings. The Flying Dutchmen averaged 304.0 strokes over six rounds.
COACHES OF NOTE
Coach Milton "Bud" Hinga had the distinction of coaching three MIAA championship teams in three different sports during the same calendar year (1934). It began in men's basketball, was followed by men's golf in the spring, and ended the following fall in football. Hinga joined the Hope faculty in 1931 and addition to coaching, served as Director of Athletics and Dean of Students.
Coach Bob Ebels ended his coaching career as the winningest golf coach in Hope history. He led the Flying Dutchmen to 14 MIAA titles and 10 NCAA appearances from 1991 to 2016, a 26-year span. Hope’s best NCAA finish was sixth under Ebels’ guidance in 2017 when he also guided Josh Gibson, then a sophomore, to an individual national championship.
