SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Jacob Gunther finished tied for fifth and the Old Dominion men's golf team posted its third Top-5 finish of 2023-24 as the Monarchs placed third at the Ross Collegiate Classic on Tuesday.
ODU had a strong opening round of 8-under 280 on Monday morning thanks to a 66 from Gunther and a 69 from Jakob Chicoyne. The Monarchs followed with a 293 in the afternoon and capped off the tournament with an even 288 in Tuesday's final round. The team finished seven strokes behind Loyola (Md.), which captured the team title with a 10-under 854. Miami (Ohio) took second place with a nine-under 855.
"It was a good finish for our team this week," said ODU Head Coach Murray Rudisill. "We started off very strong the first round and fell back the second round, but played solid today. All of the guys contributed, and we had some low scores which we have been working on very hard. Once we learn how to be more consistent individually, we will have a very solid spring. We are looking forward to the rest of the season and hope to keep up the momentum."
Miami's Brett Podobinksi was the individual champion at seven-under 209 and teammate Danny Fisher carded a 210 to grab runner-up honors. The RedHawks also had Morgan Blythe tie for third alongside Xavier's Zach Burton as the pair both posted final scores of 211.
Gunther made seven birdies for his first trip around the course at Mid Pines to sit atop the leaderboard. The Stockholm, Sweden native then dropped to fourth after shooting a 75 in the next round and capped off the Classic with a 71 for a three-round total of 212 (-4). For Chicoyne, after a second round of 80 dropped him into a tie for 42nd, he made a late charge back up the standings with a two-under 70 on Tuesday. That put him into a tie for 24th at three-over 219.
Kaijun Ma turned in the team's best round on Monday afternoon, a 69, as he made five birdies on the front nine along with one more on the par-5 15th hole. The sophomore from Macau, China tied for 29th with a four-over 220. Jakob Henriksson went six-over with a 222 to tie for 38th, Kazuki Yamauchi recorded an eight-over 224 to tie for 47th, and Cullen Campbell rounded out the scores with a 227 to tie for 62nd.
Gunther tied for fourth in par-5 scoring with an average of 4.33 and made a team-high 16 birdies while Yamauchi and Chicoyne both recorded eagles.
The Monarchs will have a couple of weeks to prepare for the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate, which will be co-hosted by East Carolina and Elon at Cutter Creek Golf Club on March 29-31.
Team Results
1. Loyola (Md.) (289-276-289 – 854) -10
2. Miami (Ohio) (293-277-285 – 855) -9
3. Old Dominion (280-293-288 – 861) -3
4. James Madison (292-284-292 – 868) +4
5. Xavier (293-294-288 – 875) +11
6. Eastern Michigan (301-296-282 – 879) +15
7. William & Mary (306-289-285 – 880) +16
T8. St. John's (296-289-296 – 881) +17
T8. George Mason (297-294-290 – 881) +17
10. Loyola U.- Chicago (305-293-284 – 882) +18
T11. Georgetown (303-290-290 – 883) +19
T11. Ohio (296-299-288 – 883) +19
13. Towson (305-290-300 – 895) +31
14. Bowling Green (303-297-296 – 896) +32
15. Saint Joseph's (Pa.) (311-293-296 – 900) +36
16. St. Bonaventure (304-306-306 – 916) +52
ODU Lineup
T5. Jacob Gunther (66-75-71 – 212) -4
T24. Jakob Chicoyne (69-80-70 – 219) +3
T29. Kaijun Ma (73-69-78 – 220) +4
T38. Jakob Henriksson (72-78-72 – 222) +6
T47. Kazuki Yamauchi (78-71-75 – 224) +8
T62. Cullen Campbell* (73-82-72 – 227)+11
*Competed as an individual
Men's Golf Finishes Third, Gunther Ties for Fifth at Ross Collegiate Classic
