(Portions of this story were taken from the Oglethorpe
University website)
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - With a final-round 289, the
Oglethorpe University men's golf team earned the school's
first-ever national title, winning the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's
Golf Championship Saturday afternoon at the PGA Village in Port St.
Lucie, Florida. The Petrels' Olafur Loftsson won the individual
national title with a playoff victory over University of La Verne's
Mitchell Fedorka.
Loftsson, a freshman from Reyjakavik, Iceland, fired a
final-round 69 to finish with a four-day total of 285 to force the
sudden death playoff.
Oglethorpe, which started the day in second place and four shots
from third-round leader Methodist University, finished four shots
clear of University of La Verne and seven shots better than
Methodist. The Petrels shot a four-day total of 12 over par
1164.
The national championship is the sixth for an SCAC team
and the first since DePauw University won the 2007 Division
III Women's Basketball Championship.
Loftsson's individual title is the 18th for an SCAC student-athlete
and the second this year - following the pentathlon title won by
Trinity University's Todd Wildman at the NCAA Division III
Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Loftsson fired a final round 3-under par 69 to come from behind
to win individual medalist honors at the Championship. Loftsson
finished in a tie with La Verne's Mitchell Fedorka and bested him
on the first playoff hole to win the Arnold Palmer award for
tournament medalist. For the four day tournament, Loftsson finished
with a score of 285, good for 3-under par.
Stormy Petrel freshman Colin Chapman (Franklin, North Carolina)
fired a final round of 1-under par and finished in a tie
for 11th place overall. Oglethorpe junior Scott Pugh
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) carded a tournament total of 296
(8-over) to finish in a tie for 15th place while senior Hap
Kaufold (Albany, Georgia) came home with a total of 298 (10-over)
to finish tied for 27th place. Freshman Matt Bernstein
(Atlanta, Georgia) carded a four day total of 305 (17-over) and
finished tied for 51st.
Chris Morris of Centre College, playing as an individual qualifier,
finished with a four-day total of 297 - good for a tie for 22nd
place.
Oglethorpe head golf coach Jim Owen, a fifteen year veteran coaching the team, said, "This is a great day for Oglethorpe athletics. I could not be more proud of our guys for bringing home the school's first championship. They certainly earned it with their stellar play on the course."
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