Olivet Nazarene Claims First-Ever Men's Golf Crown

WILMINGTON, Ill. --- Led by four players finishing among the top eleven in the 46-person field, Olivet Nazarene University made history on Tuesday afternoon when it captured its first-ever Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's golf title.  The Tiger program, which actually trailed by two strokes after the first round, finished the three-round event 19 strokes better than its next closest challenger.

Olivet Nazarene opened with a 304 on Monday and followed that up with Tuesday's scores of 303 and 293 with the latter score being the best round by any of the nine teams that competed.  The Tigers finished at 900, with St. Ambrose University next in line at 919 (302-312-305), followed by Roosevelt University at 921 (306-307-308).

Jack Busch led the ONU contingent with his individual medalist performance.  He claimed the individual title by eight strokes with his three-round score of 215.  That ended up at one-under par, keyed by tournament-best rounds of back-to-back 70's on Tuesday after shooting a 75 on Monday.

Gaining runner-up distinction was Roosevelt University's Marc Waller at 223 (75-76-72).  St. Ambrose's Jacob Stoetzel and Olivet Nazarene's Jordan Evans shared the No. 3 spot after both shot 225.  Stoetzel's rounds were broken up as 79-73-73, while Evans recorded rounds of 76-78-71.

Rounding out the Top 5 was ONU's Lorenzo Mariotti, Trinity Christian College's Ricardo Serpa and St. Ambrose's Dylan McAlpeer, all of whom shot a 226.

The top five players garner all-tournament distinction with Serpa breaking the three-way tie for the fifth spot.

Olivet Nazarene's final scoring numbers came from Chris Brown, who placed 11th at 234.    

ONU now advances to the NAIA Nationals Championships, which will take place May 21-24 at Dalton Golf and Country Club in Dalton, Ga.