Gorloks Ready To Tee Off In Greensboro

The NCAA Division III Men's Golf Committee has announced the complete field of 216 participants that will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships on May 15-18 at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. The championships will be hosted by Guilford College and the Greensboro Sports Commission.

Among the 42 teams going to Greensboro next week is Webster University as the eight-time St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Gorloks earned an automatic spot in the championships by virtue of winning the SLIAC Championships on April 23-24 at Timber Lakes Golf Club in Staunton Ill. At the SLIAC Championships, Webster shot a 54-hole total of 899 to win by 17 shots over runner-up Iowa Wesleyan, who carded a 916 for 54 holes. It was the second consecutive SLIAC title for the Gorloks and the eighth in school history. 

Webster will be making its second straight and sixth overall trip to the NCAA National Championships and is looking to once again make the cut to the final 18 teams after the first two days of competition in the 72-hole event that will be held on both the East and West Courses at the Grandover Resort. At last season's national championships, Webster the final cut of 18 teams and finished 17th overall as they shot a 1,256 for 72 holes.

The Gorloks were one of 32 schools that earned automatic qualification into the championships In addition to the 32 automatic qualifiers from eligible conferences, two teams - Emory and Southwestern (Texas) - were selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification, while the final seven teams selected - Concordia (Texas), Greensboro, Huntingdon, La Verne, Methodist, Saint John's (Minn.) and Washington and Lee - are from Pool C, which are institutions from automatic qualifying conferences that were not the conference champion and any remaining Pool B teams.

Along with selecting 42 teams for the championships, the committee also selected six individuals that are not from one of the 42 teams selected for the championships. 

This year's championship field features 20 of the 25 teams, including every team ranked in the Top 18, that were ranked in the most recent Bushnell/GCAA Coaches' Poll that was released this past Friday qualified into this year's tournament. In addition, five of the 20 teams that received votes also qualified into this year's championship field. 

The 42 teams and six individual selections will play two days (36 holes) of stroke play beginning on Tuesday, May 15. After 36 holes of competition, the field will be cut to the Top 18 teams and top six individuals not on one of those 18 teams. Those remaining 18 teams and six individuals will then play another two days (36 holes) of stroke play for a total of 72 holes. The top team in the standings at the conclusion of 72 holes will be the national champion, while the top individual in the field will be crowned as the individual medalist. 

Last season, Wittenberg (Ohio) captured its first national title as they finished two strokes ahead of runner-up Guilford College. Hope College's Josh Gibson took home individual medalist honors after shooting a 1-under par for the four-day, 72-hole event and winning a one-hole playoff over Wittenberg's Garrett Brickley. The 2017 championships were played at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., and was hosted by Oglethorpe University and the Central Florida Sports Commission.

Cal State-Stanislaus, who is now competing at the NCAA Division II level, has won the most Division III national titles in men's golf with 12, while Methodist, who enters the tournament as the No. 1 ranked team in NCAA Division III men's golf, has won 11 national titles. Other than Methodist, only four other current Division III member has won multiple national titles - Oglethorpe (2012, 2009), Greensboro (2011, 2000), Guilford (2005, 2002) and St. John's (Minn.) (2008, 2007). 

The pairings for the first round have yet to be announced as the teams will be paired in threesomes and will tee off the first two days from both the No. 1 and No. 10 tees on the East and West courses. 

Listed below are the teams and individuals that have advanced to the 2018 NCAA D-III Men's Golf National Championships:

Automatic qualification berths (33)

Pool B berths (2)
Emory
Southwestern (Texas)

Pool C berths (7)
Concordia University Texas
Greensboro
Huntingdon
La Verne
Methodist
Saint John's (Minnesota)
Washington and Lee

Individuals (6)
Ben VanScoyk, Calvin
Lance Keiser, Ferrum
Ryan Muthiora, Kenyon
Jacob Arnett, Oglethorpe
Cade Lawson, Redlands
Ryan Isaacson, Wisconsin-Eau Claire