(Portions of this story courtesy of Centre College and Oglethorpe University)
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Centre College senior Chris Morris won the individual title and the Centre men's golf team saved their best performance for the last day to take seventh place overall at the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship. Oglethorpe University finished tied for 11th place. Team Results | Individual Results
Morris' four round total of 274 broke Lee’s D-III four-round record of 280 set last season by runner-up Tain Lee of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Lee edged out Morris by four strokes for the individual national championship a season ago.
The Colonels finished with a four day score of 1186, following rounds of 296, 301, 299, and 290. Greensboro College took first place as a team with an 1167. Illinois Wesleyan finished in second place with an 1173, while St. John's (Minn.), Methodist, and Texas Lutheran tied for third place with an 1180.
Last year the Colonels took 13th place at the 2010 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship, which was played in Hershey, Pa. at the Hershey Links and Hershey Country Club.
"Winning this tournament is the biggest accomplishment of my career thus far. I can't be more thankful and appreciative of my coaches, teammates, friends, and Centre College," Morris said.
Morris opened the tournament with a 67 and sat in second place. He would go on to shoot a 65 in Wednesday's round of play to move into first place. Morris went -1 par in round three and held a five shot lead over last year's individual champion Lee.
During the final day of play Morris was able to remain focused and went on to shoot a 71 for the second straight day to finish at -14 par for the tournament and beat Lee, who finished in second, by four shots.
Oglethorpe, the 2011 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) champions, tied for 11th place at the NCAA Championships.
Out of contention for the Championship as the day began, Oglethorpe was playing for position on Friday and was able to climb one spot after posting a total of 300 (+12). The Petrels shot a four-day total of 1204 (+52) and finished in a flat-footed tie with Christopher Newport.
Sophomore Eric Quinn carded the low round of the day for Oglethorpe by shooting a 73 (+1). He finished the Tournament in a tie for 42nd. Senior Craig Stevenson was the highest finishing Petrel, coming home in a tie for 30th after completing his career with a 75 (+3) on Friday.
Freshman Anthony Amodeo shrugged off a dreadful day two of the Championships to fight back into a tie for 54th place. He played well on Friday with a total of 76 (+4). Fellow freshman Patrick Cansfield also experienced some up and downs at the Championships and finished in a tie for 61st after turning in 77 (+5) today.
Junior Jordan Hall was working on an excellent final round before a triple on the closing ninth hole forced him to card a 76 (+4) for the day. He finished in a tie for 57th overall.
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