The NCAA News - News and Features

May 5, 1997

Division III

Methodist set for title defense

Event: 1997 Division III Men's Golf Championships.

Overview: Methodist, winner of seven of the last nine team titles, appears poised for another behind defending medalist Mike Adamson, who fired a final-round 66 last year and has posted eight top-10 finishes this year. He'll get help from teammates Bryan Wright, the defending Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, and Chris Eaves, winner of the Pine Needles Invitational earlier this spring .... Skidmore finished second in the team competition by just two strokes last year and will challenge again behind junior Bryan Martin, a two-time all-American and runner-up last year; Matt Major; and Tom Gilbert. Martin placed no worse than fourth in six of eight tournaments this fall, and Gilbert won the Middlebury College Invitational .... Otterbein, the tournament host, won its first seven invitationals until a second-place finish in a rain-shortened event in early April, but Cardinals coach David McLaughlin sees Methodist as the clear front-runner. "Methodist historically is on a different level," he said. "Certainly they're the team to beat -- they've proven it year in and year out. If you want to win the championship you've got to beat Methodist." McLaughlin will count on Matt Ehlinger and Matt Smith, who each have won tournaments this year. The duo finished one-two in Otterbein's win at the Kenyon Cup. "When we're playing our best. I think we can contend with anyone in the country," McLaughlin said. "I just hope our team is ready to do that." As for hosting the event, McLaughlin is excited about showing off the Medallion Club. "The facility is one of the best from top to bottom that we've been able to provide the players in recent years," he said. "The clubhouse alone is 66,000 square feet, which is something that Division III doesn't normally see."

Field: A total of 120 participants from six districts will compete for the team and individual championships.

Dates and site: The championships will be May 13-16 at the Medallion Club in Westerville, Ohio. Otterbein will serve as the host institution.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3066 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 5100 for first-round results, 5101 for second-round results, 5102 for third-round results and 5103 for final-round results. Individual and team results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will appear in the May 26 issue of The NCAA News.