Gerry Jones Jr. tees off. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic
After losing a fifth-year senior and picking up three freshmen this summer, the Hillsdale men’s golf team will open its season next week in Canton, Ohio.
The Chargers will travel south to compete Sept. 11-12 in the Glenmoor Fall Classic. The team placed second in the tournament last season and shot only two strokes over the program’s record 54-hole score.
“The tournament I’m looking forward to is Glenmoor, if I get to play in it,” sophomore Max Burns said. “I remember that course being awesome, and obviously it was the first-ever college tournament I played in.”
Hillsdale will play in four tournaments this fall, one fewer than it played last fall. Head coach Matt Thompson, entering his fourth season at Hillsdale, said he made the change because he wants his players to be at their best for each tournament.
“I think just that much travel to tournaments was difficult,” Thompson said. “I want to make sure guys have the time to decompress and get their academics in order so that they can travel to the tournament with a clear head.”
The Chargers ended last season on a disappointing note, finishing last out of 12 teams in April at the G-MAC championship tournament. The team also lost fifth-year senior Drew Gandy, who Thompson said is now coaching men’s and women’s golf for another G-MAC school, Northwood University.
“He was really getting into the ins and outs of coaching by the time he was done playing,” Thompson said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for him to get his feet wet in the world of coaching.”
The team picked up three freshmen in the offseason: Oliver Marshall, Ryan O’Rourke, and Robert Thompson.
“They’ve had great tournament experience that I think will serve them well as they make the transition to college golf,” coach Thompson said. “Robert and Oliver are pretty consistent players. Ryan is a tall, lanky kid and has a lot of power, can really hit the ball a long ways, and certainly has some really great potential — a good junior player in his own right. We got a little bit of a mix of guys.”
Junior Filippo Reale said he is impressed by the freshmen.
“They’re good guys, they’ve settled themselves well into the team dynamics, and they’re good fun,” Reale said. “But most importantly, they’re going to be improving over the years. I’m happy for Hillsdale to have these guys.”
The players compete with each other to determine the team’s lineup before every tournament, with the top five qualifying to play the next week.
“We’re figuring out who the best five players are,” Thompson said. “We’re going to set the lineup and put the finishing touches on a couple of things, and then we’ll be ready to go compete.”
Thompson said Wednesday, amid the team’s qualifying rounds, all three freshmen had a chance at playing in the lineup next week.
“It should be a combination of some good experience from the back and some younger guys who should be able to make their way in,” Thompson said.