Credit: IWU Athletics
The Illinois Wesleyan men’s and women’s golf teams took to the green this week in the CCIW Preview and IWU Fall Classic, respectively.
The men’s team traveled to Yorkshire, Ill. on Wednesday, September 21 and came home with six Top-Ten individual finishers and the gold medal overall. The trip to the White Tail Ridge Golf Club gave the Titans the opportunity to face off against 14 schools and scope out the future site of the 2022 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship.
The Titans rounded out the one-day contest with a winning 284 strokes. The silver went to Millikinm who fell five strokes behind IWU with 289, followed by North Park with 291. The Illinois Wesleyan University ‘B’ team and Carthage rounded out the Top-Five with 301 and 306, respectively.
Sophomore Griffin Pohl led the charge for the Titans with 68 strokes, carding in at three-under-par for a second place individual finish. Freshman Jackson Hulsey, a leader on IWU’s ‘B’ team, was hot on Pohl’s tail with a third-place garnering 69 strokes.
Two-time CCIW Men’s Golfer of the Week Bobby Beaubien climbed into fifth place with a one-under 70 while seventh place went to freshman Titan Juney Bai with 72.
The Top-Ten was rounded out by the Titan duo of sophomore Quinn Clifford and junior Jack Bruening, who shared ninth place with a pair of 74s.
This victory comes for the Titans after they stole the CCIW Men’s Golfer of the Week status for two consecutive weeks. Beaubein was given the award following his performance at the ONU Bill Johnson Fall Invitational from September 16-17. The week prior, the title was awarded to Clifford for the first time in his collegiate career.
As the men’s team dominated the course in Yorkshire this week, the Illinois Wesleyan women’s team stayed at home to host the IWU Fall Classic on Sunday, September 18. Junior women’s team star Lexi Onsrud snatched the gold medal individually and helped push the Titans into second place after the second day of play.
UW-Whitewater took first with a two-day total of 601 strokes with the Titans trailing behind at 608. Central College carded 619 strokes on 36-holes and Denison managed 621. The Illinois Wesleyan ‘B’ team tied with Aurora to round out the Top-Five team finishes with 636.
Onsrud flew up the leaderboard on the second day of the tournament after nailing four birdies for a one-round score of 70. Her two-under-par score on the second day gave Onsrud an overall score of 145, marking her fourth individual collegiate victory and earning her CCIW Women’s Golfer of the Week for the third time in her career.
Fellow junior Rachel Ducaji led the Titans’ ‘B’ team with a new one-day personal record of 73 strokes and a combined score of 149 that landed her in third place individually. Two-time CCIW Women’s Golfer of the Week Macy Ludwig bottomed out the Top-Five with 150.
The Titans also saw junior Emma Thorman in the Top-Ten, closing out the individual rankings with 155, and sophomore Jacque O’Neill in the Top-20 with a 158.
Both the men’s and women’s golf teams will return to defend their titles. The men’s team will travel across state lines for the NCAA DIII Preview in Lexington, Ky. from Sunday, October 2-Tuesday, October 4. The women’s team will be in Decatur, Ill. from Friday, September 23-Saturday, September 24 for the Big Blue Classic hosted by Millikin University.