2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series

Event #1

Apple Valley Golf Club
Howard, Ohio
Hosted by Kenyon College
Saturday - Sunday
April 25-26

Final Results:

Men -- Women

Event #2

Springfield Country Club
Springfield, Ohio
Hosted by Wittenberberg University
Saturday - Sunday
May 2-3

Final Results:

Men -- Women
 Overall Men's Results -- Overall Women's Results
Event #2 Recap

The 2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series concluded on Sunday (5/3) at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, hosted by Wittenberg University. Wittenberg captured its sixth-straight men's title with a 72-hole score of 1,162 (293-295-292-282), while the Wittenberg Tigers also picked up their first women's title in program history with a 72-hole total of 1,250 (310-318-322-300).

In the final men's standings, Wittenberg was followed by Kenyon with 1,186 strokes (298-300-294-294), Allegheny with 1,205 (304-309-299-293), Denison with 1,218 (309-311-291-307), DePauw with 1,227 (312-306-300-309), Wooster with 1,269 (328-321-313-307), Ohio Wesleyan with 1,270 (316-322-316-316), Wabash with 1,290 (323-322-334-311) and Hiram with 1,301 (324-331-328-318).

On the women's side, the Tigers were followed by DePauw with 1,250 strokes (310-318-322-300), Denison with 1,353 (331-337-334-351), Wooster with 1,407 (362-335-367-343), Allegheny with 1,418 (364-356-355-343), Ohio Wesleyan with 1,442 (346-364-379-353) and Hiram with 1,615 (396-397-417-405).

As league champions, both Wittenberg squads have earned the league's automatic bid to compete in their respective 2015 NCAA Division III Championship Tournaments.

Wittenberg senior John Chaney (Gates Mills, OH/Gilmour Acad.) won the 2015 Bob Nye Award as the overall Champion Medalist after he accumulated 285 strokes (71-73-71-70) over the two championship events combined. Wittenberg senior Alex Andrews (Kirtland, OH/Gilmour Acad.) earned the 2015 Dick Gordin Award as the Player of the Year by vote of the league coaches. Andrews finished in a tie for second in the final standings of the championship series with 292 strokes (75-76-73-68). Finally, Kenyon head coach Grant Wallace was named the 2015 NCAC Men's Golf Coach of the Year by vote of the conference coaches. 

On the women's side, Wittenberg sophomore Macy Hubbard (Mason, OH/Mason) was the overall Champion Medalist with 299 strokes (77-74-75-73), while freshman Jane Hopkinson-Wood (Pottstown, PA/The Hill School), who finished second overall in the championship series standings with 312 strokes, was named the Player of the Year by vote of the league coaches. In addition, the league coaches also tabbed Wittenberg head coach Jeff Roope as the 2015 NCAC Women's Golf Coach of the Year.
Event #1 Recap 
The first event of the 2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series was contested last weekend, April 25-26, at Apple Valley Golf Club in Howard, Ohio, with Kenyon serving as the host institution. Five-time defending NCAC men’s champion Wittenberg leads after the first event with a 36-hole team total of 588 (293-295), while the Wittenberg Tigers also lead the women’s standings after the opening weekend of play with a two-day team total of 628 (310-318).

In the women’s standings, three-time defending NCAC champion DePauw is second with 651 strokes (320-331), followed by Denison in third with 668 (331-337), Wooster in fourth with 697 (362-335), Ohio Wesleyan in fifth with 710 (346-364), Allegheny in sixth with 720 (364-356) and Hiram in seventh with 793 (396-397). Kenyon checks in at second in the men’s standings with 598 strokes (298-300), followed by Allegheny in third with 613 (304-309), DePauw in fourth with 618 (312-306), Denison in fifth with 620 (309-311), Ohio Wesleyan in sixth with 638 (316-322), Wabash in seventh with 645 (323-322), Wooster in eighth with 649 (328-321) and Hiram in ninth with 655 (324-331).

Wittenberg sophomore Macy Hubbard (Mason, OH/Mason) leads the women’s individual standings after event one with a 36-hole score of 151 (77-74) on the Par-72, 5,842-yard course. Rounding out the top-five in the individual standings after the first weekend of action is Wittenberg freshman Jane Hopkinson-Wood (Pottstown, PA/The Hill School) in second with 155 strokes (76-79), DePauw sophomore Sheinnera Gerongay (Bloomington, IL/University) in third with 159 strokes (81-78), Wittenberg junior Maggie Smith (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) in fourth with 160 strokes (79-81) and DePauw freshman Kharissa Carras (Midland, MI/Dow) in fifth with 161 strokes (78-83).

On the men’s side, Wittenberg senior John Chaney (Gates Mills, OH/Gilmour Acad.) sits atop the individual standings with 144 stokes (71-73) on the Par-72, 6,946-yard course. There is a tie for second at 146 strokes between Kenyon sophomore Mason McCool (Findlay, OH/Findlay) (73-73) and Wittenberg sophomore Sam Stilwell (Sterling, VA/Dominion) (74-72), while KC senior Alex Blickle (Wernersville, PA/Lancaster Country Day) sits in fourth with a 36-hole score of 147 (72-75). The top-five rounds out with a four-way tie at 150 between DePauw freshman Andrew Derringer (Zionsville, IN/Cathedral) (75-75), Wittenberg junior Sam Geise (Springboro, OH/Springboro) (73-77), Allegheny junior Robby Pickett (Cincinnati, OH/Indian Hill) (74-76) and Wittenberg senior Jared Wissinger (Hilliard, OH/Davidson) (76-74).

The second and final event of the 2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series will be held next weekend, May 2-3, at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, with Wittenberg serving as the host institution. The men and women will both play 36 holes over the two days, with 18 holes being played on both Saturday and Sunday.

NCAC men’s and women’s champions will be determined by the combined results of both events, with each winner earning the league’s automatic bid into their respective NCAA Division III Golf Championships. In addition, both genders recognize the individual medalist from the combined events as well as the season MVP, which is voted on by the league coaches. The men’s individual champion medalist is presented the Bob Nye Award and the conference MVP earns the Dick Gordin Award.
Men's Pre-Championship Series Coaches' Poll Women's Pre-Championship Series Coaches' Poll

The first event of the 2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series will be contested this weekend, April 25-26, at Apple Valley Golf Course in Howard, Ohio, with Kenyon serving as the host institution. The second event of the championship series will take place the following weekend, May 2-3, at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, with Wittenberg serving as the host institution.

Wittenberg has emerged as the favorite in the 2015 NCAC men’s pre-championship golf poll, based on balloting from the nine league coaches. The Tigers, led by eighth-year head coach Jeff Roope, collected eight of the nine possible first-place votes to top the poll with 80 total points. Kenyon was second with 71 points and Denison was third with 58, while Allegheny and DePauw rounded out the top-five in a tie for fourth with 50 points each. The DPU Tigers collected the final available first-place vote. Ohio Wesleyan checked in at sixth with 34 points, followed by Wooster in seventh (31), Wabash in eighth (22) and Hiram in ninth (9).

The Wittenberg Tigers, who are ranked seventh in the most recent Golfstat national poll, enter the 2015 NCAC Championship Series with a loaded lineup that has racked up five tournament titles this season. The Tigers boast a strong senior trio of Alex Andrews (Kirtland, OH/Gilmour Acad.), John Chaney (Gates Mills, OH/Gilmour Acad.) and Jared Wissinger (Hilliard, OH/Davidson) that have combined for one individual title and 13 total top-10 finishes this season. Andrews, who was earned medalist honors earlier this fall at Wittenberg’s own Rosecrans-Mauer Invitational with 141 strokes (72-69), owns the squad’s top scoring average at 73.23, while Chaney is third overall with a 74.05 and Wissinger sixth among Tiger golfers with a 75.73. The Tigers, who are the five-time defending NCAC champions, enter the 2015 NCAC Championship Series as winners of their last two events, placing first out of 14 teams at the Rhodes College Mirimichi College Classic, April 13-14, with 436 strokes (290-146), and finishing first out of nine squads last weekend, April 18-19, at Wooster’s Nye Intercollegiate with a 36-hole score of 595 (298-297).

2015 North Coast Athletic Conference
Men's Golf
Pre-Championship Series Coaches' Polls
(first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points)
MEN'S GOLF
1. Wittenberg (8)
 80
2. Kenyon
 71
3. Denison
 58
4. Allegheny
 50

DePauw (1)
 50
6. Ohio Wesleyan
 34
7.
 Wooster
 31
8. Wabash 22
9. Hiram 9

The first event of the 2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series will be contested this weekend, April 25-26, at Apple Valley Golf Course in Howard, Ohio, with Kenyon serving as the host institution. The second event of the championship series will take place the following weekend, May 2-3, at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, with Wittenberg serving as the host institution.

Wittenberg was selected as the favorite in the pre-championship series poll after collecting six of the possible first-place votes cast by league coaches for 48 total points. DePauw, the three-time defending NCAC champions, earned the final first-place vote and finished second in the poll with 39 points, while Denison rounded out the top-three in third with 36 points. Wooster was fourth overall with 24 points, followed by Allegheny in fifth (23), Ohio Wesleyan in sixth (19) and Hiram in seventh (7).

Wittenberg, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Jeff Roope, enters the 2015 NCAC Golf Championship series ranked fifth in the most recent Golfstat national poll. The Tigers, who have won an unprecedented six tournament titles during the 2014-15 season, have been led since day one of the season by freshman Jane Hopkinson-Wood (Pottstown, PA/The Hill School). Hopkinson-Wood opened her rookie campaign in early September by winning the Denison Fall Invitational with 151 strokes (78-73) and closed out the fall portion of the schedule with another individual title at the DePauw Small College Classic with a two-day total of 156 (76-80). She has since earned medalist honors twice this spring at the Joe Duncan Rhodes Invitational and the Ohio Wesleyan Laura Bump Invitational. The Tigers will also turn to a strong senior class for leadership throughout the 2015 NCAC Golf Championship Series, led by Nicole Waers (Canton, OH/Perry), who owns the second-best scoring average on the squad (79.50). Waers was also an individual champion in an event in the fall after carding a 153 (76-77) at Wooster’s Eva Shorb Weiskopf Invitational, September 27-28.

2015 North Coast Athletic Conference
Women's Golf
Pre-Championship Series Coaches' Polls
(first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points)
WOMEN'S GOLF
1. Wittenberg (6)
 48
2. DePauw (1)
 39
3. Denison
 36
4. Wooster
 24
5. Allegheny
 23
6. Ohio Wesleyan
 19
7. Hiram
 7