ATLANTA, Ga. — The Oglethorpe men’s golf squad won their home tournament and the West Pines Collegiate with a five-stroke win over Lynchburg with scores of 294-284-272=850 and a 2 under par total. The win was the highlight of the fall season for the Petrels as they registered second place in the Southern Athletic Association Fall Preview and three sixth-place finishes in the following three majors: The NCAA Fall National Preview in Rochester, New York, The Gate City Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, South Carolina, and The Golfweek Invitational in Destin, Florida.
“It was a solid, almost spectacular, fall for the fellas this season,” said head coach Jim Owen. “In the elite fields we play week in and week out, you can’t complain about five top six or better finishes, but we fancy ourselves as a top five team nationally. We just weren’t able to prove it this fall.
“One round of the three each week derailed us,” continued Owen. “Our goal this spring is to string three consecutive rounds together a couple of times and contend to win a few times this spring. Even when we won at West Pines, it took a tournament record 12 under 272 to come back and win.”
In the fall season’s 14 rounds, Oglethorpe sported a school record 286.6 adjusted scoring average. The team averaged a stroke and a half under par for the fall season. Over their five tournaments this season, Oglethorpe put together a 61-16-3 record against one of the nation’s toughest strengths of schedules. The Petrels find themselves ranked No. 6 nationally and amazingly just No. 5 in the brutally tough south region.
“It’s easy to see why the strength of schedule is so strong,” added Owen. “We play half the top 20 everywhere. One of the most amazing stats for the season is we finished under par as a team in all five fall tournaments. That’s a first in school history. We were 19 under as a team over our 14 team rounds this fall.”
Player by Player
Sophomore sensation Jackson Hiller finished off a fantastic fall season where he finished top 16 or better in all five of his starts. Hiller, from Vero Beach, Florida, won the West Pines Collegiate in October with a 5 under three-round total of 72-70-66 on the par 71 track in Douglasville, Georgia. In Rochester, New York, at the Flower City NCAA Fall Preview, he posted rounds of 66-68-75 and earned a T-5 finish in a national major championship. Hiller is ranked as the No. 15 player in the country and the No. 11 best player in the south region with his 70.2 adjusted scoring average. Hiller has amassed an impressive 428 wins, 44 losses, and 13 ties on the season.
Senior Sam Karman is currently ranked No. 42 in the nation and No. 23 in the south region, coming off a strong fall season which included four top-25 finishes for the Melbourne, Florida, native. Karman finished second, one stroke behind teammate Jackson Hiller, at the West Pines Collegiate. Karman fired a 1 under 70-73-69 = 212 total at The Golfweek Invitational in Destin, Florida. Karman sports a 71.2 adjusted scoring average through 14 rounds this fall and has a record of 379-85-21 on the season to date.
Senior Beck Lewis checks in at No. 83 nationally with his 347-120-18 win-loss-tie record through the fall and an even 72.0 scoring average. Lewis totaled three top 25’s and a fall-best third-place finish at The SAA Fall Preview at Greystone following rounds of 71-70 = 144. Lewis finished 21st at West Pines and 25th at The Flower City National Preview.
Freshman Corbin Scott solidified the back end of the lineup with clutch finishes at both Golfweek and the West Pines Collegiate, where his final two rounds of a 77-72-68 = 217 were instrumental in the comeback win by Oglethorpe on the final day. An outstanding –2 (69) at The Raven Gold Club in Destin at The Golfweek for the second week in a row helped the team score and lock in for a solid sixth place finish to finish the fall season. Scott carries a 73.6 scoring average, is ranked No. 216 nationally, and has an overall record of 231-176-17 in his 11 matches. Scott was in the lineup in two of the five major tournaments this fall.
A second freshman, Andy Cruz of Lambert High School in Suwanee, Georgia, played a huge role in the fall campaign, competing in four of the five major tournaments, missing one with an injury. He is currently the No. 24 ranked player in the nation and No. 71 in the south region. Cruz earned two top-40 finishes this fall and posted a 73.5 scoring average in his 12 competitive rounds. Rounds at 71-77-72 = 220 earned Cruz a T-37 in the National Preview in Rochester and helped the team to a sixth-place finish in New York. Cruz ended the fall with 263 wins, 215 losses, and 24 ties.
Sophomore standout Ryan Dunn currently ranks No. 326 nationally, No. 83 in the region and carries a 74.2 scoring average. Dunn has a record of 247 wins, 225 losses, and 18 ties on the season in 14 rounds. His fall featured one top-25 and two top-50’s in his four major events for Oglethorpe. His best finish was 24th with founds of 71-76 at the SAA Fall Preview in Tennessee.
“We have more depth and contributors than these six mentioned here,” added Owen. “Junior Thomas Reininger has been in the lineup in previous years, sophomore Diego Passos has had moments of great golf this fall, and senior Colin Alexander is capable of stringing together rounds in the 60s. Ryan Callaham, a freshman from Atlanta, has two top-25’s in his young career already. We need more consistency day to day out of this crew.”
A pair of Naples, Florida, players made good progress this fall. Junior Willem Jaron and freshman Chris Forsythe made an impact and posted solid scores in their events this fall.
Looking Ahead
The Petrels will take their top-10 ranking into the spring season, and they open in Savannah, Georgia, at The Savannah Harbor International March 3-4, 2025. The 25th Anniversary of the Jekyll Island Collegiate moves back to Jekyll March 21-23 to the newly refurbished and renovated with some new designs on the Pine Lakes Course. Oglethorpe is defending champion having won the 2024 edition on the replacement course on St. Simons Island, the King and Prince course last year.
The Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate and the Bill Cochran Collegiate fill out the April slate, and Oglethorpe closes the month of April by trying to four-peat the SAA Championship in Dickson, Tennessee, in 2025.
“Last year, we won our 15th SCAC or SAA title at the Greystone and our third in a row and have our sights set on the four-peat,” said Owen. “We have won four in a row once from 2000 to 2003, but the other two times, we have been denied. Sewanee at #5, Berry #20, and Rhodes #34 all have designs on the same prize and would all relish stopping the four-peat. We will have our work cut out for us as usual at the conference championship. We are already thinking about it, and it’s over five months away.”