GETTYSBURG, Pa. Two years after winning the Centennial Conference title with a dramatic comeback on the final day of competition, the Gettysburg College men’s golf team will officially defend its crown at the Hershey Country Club this Saturday and Sunday.
In 2019, Gettysburg erased a 15-stroke deficit and carded a team score of 295 in the final round to claim the program’s fourth CC championship. Danny Harcourt ’19 and Dane Sethre-Hofstad ’19 finished 1-2 at the event hosted by the Brookside Golf Club.
It has been nearly two years since that momentous occasion. The Bullets’ title defense was cut short in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the 2021 campaign picked up in March and all the conference schools have tried to get in as many rounds as possible leading up to the championship tournament, which will be held on the East Course at the Hershey Country Club beginning on Saturday.
“Our team’s mentality is to do the best we can to stay internally focused and worry about the things we can control,” said Head Coach Nate Davis. “Hershey Country Club is a great venue and challenging test of golf. We will need to respond well and stay resilient when things don’t go our way realizing that every stroke will matter. This weekend will certainly be a tough physical and mental challenge as always.”
Handling the challenges this weekend with be a talented and experienced group of golfers, led by seniors Quinn Greene (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) and Daniel Rieger (Collegeville, Pa./Methacton). Greene has improved his stroke average in each of his four collegiate seasons and enters the weekend leading the team with a 75.2 average. He has finished among the top 10 in all six events this spring. Rieger isn’t far behind with an average of 77.8 and ended the regular season with three-straight top-six finishes. Both have prior championship experience with Rieger competing in the CC Championship in 2018 and 2019 and Greene competing at the event in 2019.
Three Gettysburg golfers will be making their first career appearances at the conference tournament. Junior Hayden Moffat (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) is in the midst of a breakout season and ranks second on the team with a scoring average of 76.5. sophomore Joseph Furlong (Midland Park, N.J./Midland Park) joined the Bullets long enough to win his collegiate debut at the Myrtle Beach Shootout last March before the pandemic struck down the rest of the season. He ranks fifth on the team with an average of 78.2 this year. Freshman Cameron Deiuliis (Highland, Md./River Hill) accounted for the team’s lone individual medalist honor with a 73 at the Gettysburg Invitational on April 8 and he ranks fourth on the team with an average of 77.3.
Even with the loss of standouts like Harcourt and Sethre-Hofstad, the Bullets have remained one of the top teams in the Centennial Conference over the last two seasons. The team recorded the second-best scoring average in program history in the shortened 2019-20 campaign, and the scoring mark is even better this spring. Through six rounds of competition, Gettysburg has posted an average team score of 305.2.
Heading into championship weekend, Gettysburg’s average ranks second in the conference behind Franklin & Marshall College’s 301.3. Dickinson College and McDaniel College rank third and fourth at 319.5 and 319.6, respectively. Those four teams will be joined by Muhlenberg College and Ursinus College this weekend.
Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall were the preseason favorites heading into the spring. Both teams split the six first-place votes.
“The Centennial Conference has some great golf programs with talented golfers that we expect will play well,” noted Davis. “However, if we keep our composure, block out distractions and stay in the moment, I think we have a great chance at defending our title and earning another Centennial Conference championship.”
Tee times will begin at noon each day of the tournament. The course setup will be par 71 at 6,482 yards. Spectators are not permitted on the course, but live scoring will be available throughout the event.
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.