Going into this year’s NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships, the University of Rochester’s Stephen Goodridge felt good about his chances of winning the individual title. After all, he knew he had the talent and the patience. He was playing well and his confidence was riding high.

Along the way to becoming Rochester’s first national champion in golf, Goodridge did more than show off his talent on the links. He demonstrated his skill in the classroom as well.

If you ask him, Goodridge will tell you that what stands out most to him about winning the title was the last three holes. Entering that final round, he held a one stroke lead over the University of Redland’s Nick Obie and built the margin to three shots coming into the 16th. Obie cut Goodridge’s lead to two strokes there, but then the pair birdied the 17th and parred the 18th to give Goodridge a two-shot win.

"Those last three holes were pretty exciting," the Rochester medalist said.

But that was just the athlete half of the student-athlete. Goodridge couldn’t let the on-course excitement distract him from something equally important also occurring that same day. Goodridge, who is majoring in optics — one of Rochester’s most demanding academic concentrations — managed a national championship while also working his way through a final examination for Optics 261 — Interference and Diffraction.

Head coach Rich Johnson helped make arrangements for the sophomore to take the exam off campus on the specified day. Goodridge began the final day of competition by taking the first half of the three-hour exam from 9:30 to 11 a.m. The test, proctored by the head coach, consisted of 12 questions and required Goodridge to work out complex equations and draw diagrams. At about 11:30, Goodridge headed to Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln, Nebraska, to shoot his final round and ultimately win the national championship. After securing the title, Goodridge and his coach attended the awards banquet. Then about 12 hours after finishing the first half of the test, the newly crowned national champion returned to his coach’s room to spend

another 90 minutes, from 9:45 to 11:15 p.m., finishing the final exam.

Goodridge had a choice — he could have taken the entire test, which had to be completed on that day, before or after the final round or sandwich the round in between two 90-minute intervals. Although it made for a long day, Goodridge purposefully divided the three hours he was allotted to complete the test.

"I decided to take half before and half after because if I took the whole test before the round, I thought I’d be too tired to play the round," he said.

Knowing the day would be challenging, Goodridge prepared by spending some time each evening of competition studying to get himself in a routine.

Even so, by his own admission, Goodridge said finishing the final after the last round was tough. He isn’t exactly sure in fact how he was able to switch gears from student to athlete and back to student so smoothly.

"I tried to focus on one thing at a time," he said. "It was hard to do, but I was able to win the tournament. I did pretty well on the exam, I think. I ended up getting a ‘B’ in the class and that’s pretty good."

It’s more than pretty good. The Institute of Optics at Rochester is one of the most prestigious in the nation and is a prime reason why Goodridge chose the school. Founded in 1929 by a grant from Kodak and Bausch and Lomb, it was the first education program of its kind in the United States. The institute has awarded more than 2,400 degrees in optics, which amounts to about half of all degrees granted in the discipline.

As for the course, Optics 261, it includes three to four physics courses and three to four math courses as prerequisites. The final exam accounted for 45 percent of Goodridge’s final grade.

"I was very relieved when the day was over. It was a full day," he said.

With two more years left in an already standout career at Rochester, Goodridge — the winner of the 2005 Phil Mickelson Award as the Division III Freshman of the Year and a first team all-America selection this season — can look forward to many more full, but certainly satisfying, days.

Goodridge plans to pursue a career in research with his degree.