Griffin's strong showing leads Penn State to fourth-place finish in Old Town Club Collegiate

    Penn State put together one of the best 54-hole performances in the history of the program in finishing in fourth place in the Old Town Club Collegiate, which wrapped up Sept. 27^th at the Old Town Club in Winston-Salem, N.C.

   The Nittany Lions were led by a third-place finish in the individual standings by Jake Griffin, a sophomore from Kensington, Md. whose 6-under-par total of 204 left him four shots behind co-medalists Xavier Marcoux, a senior at Rutgers from Concord, Mass., and Will Morlan, a sophomore at Furman from Alpharetta, Ga.

   Griffin opened with a 3-under-par 67 over the 6,966-yard, par-70 Old Town Club layout and added a 2-under 68 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round Sept. 26^th. He closed with a 1-under 69 for the best finish of his career.

   Griffin helped Penn State card back-to-back 3-under 277s in the opening-day double round before finishing up with a 1-under 279 that gave the Nittany Lions, playing out of the Big Ten, a 7-under 833 total. That tied for the third lowest total in program history.

   Big 12 representative Kansas State was the surprising team winner as the Wildcats held off a late charge by Old Town Club Collegiate host Wake Forest to claim a one-shot victory.

   Remarkably, all five players in the Kansas State lineup landed among a group of eight players tied for 16^th place, each finishing with a 1-under 209 total. The Wildcats took control of the team chase during the opening-day double round as they added a 10-under 270, the low team round of the tournament, in the afternoon to their opening round of 6-under 274.

   Kansas State closed with a 4-over 284 for a 12-under 828 total that gave the Wildcats their second straight tournament win to start the wraparound 2022-2023 season. Kansas State had opened the season by winning its Wildcat Invitational.

   Wake Forest, the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion, trailed Kansas State by 11 shots after the Demon Deacons had posted rounds of 3-under 277 and 2-under 278 in the opening-day double round. Wake Forest made a determined charge in the final round with a 6-under 274 that left it a shot behind Kansas State with an 11-under 829 total.

   Southern Conference representative Furman, behind individual co-champion Morlan, finished two shots behind Wake Forest in third place with a 9-under 831 total. The Paladins trailed Kansas State by nine shots after adding a 6-under 274 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to their opening round of 1-under 279. Furman closed with a 2-under 278.

   Penn State’s Big Ten rival Rutgers, behind its individual co-champion Marcoux, finished two shots behind the Nittany Lions in fifth place in the 12-team field with a 5-under 835 total.

   The Scarlet Knights matched par in the opening round with a 280, added a 3-under 277 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round and finished up with a 2-under 278.

   All five members of the Kansas State lineup took turns turning in critical rounds, so it was probably appropriate that they all landed in the same place.

   Cooper Schultz, a redshirt sophomore from Andover, Kan., opened with a 2-over 72 that the Wildcats were able to throw out, but bounced back with the best single Kansas State round of the tournament, a 5-under 65 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round. Schultz again recorded a 72 in the final round, but this time it was a counter.

   Will Hopkins, a senior from England, posted a pair of 2-under 68s in the opening-day double round before closing with a throw-out 3-over 73.

   Nicklaus Mason, a sophomore from Shawnee, Kan., ignited Kansas State’s strong start with an opening round of 3-under 67. Mason matched par with a 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before finishing up with a 2-over 72.

   Laurenz Schiergen, a sophomore from Germany, matched par in the opening round with a 70, contributed a 3-under 67 to Kansas State’s second-round surge and closed with a 2-over 72.

   Rounding out the Kansas State lineup was Tim Tillmanns, a senior from Germany, as he opened with a 1-under 69, carded a 2-over 72 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round that the Wildcats were able to toss and finished up with their low round of the final day, a 2-under 68.

   Furman’s Morjan got it going in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a scintillating 7-under 63, which, combined with his opening-round 68, gave him a share of the lead at the end of the day with Southern Mississippi’s Cameron Clarke, a graduate student from Pittsboro, Miss.

   Morjan closed with a 1-under 69 to finish with a 10-under 200 total that gave him the first victory of his college career.

   Rutgers’ Marcoux added a 4-under 66 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 69 and trailed the co-leaders by four shots going into the final round. A sparkling final round of 5-under 65 enabled him to catch Morjan at 10-under and get a share of the individual crown. Like Morjan, it was Marcoux’s first collegiate victory.

   Southern Mississippi’s Clarke fell back in the final round with a 4-over 74, but still finished among a trio of players tied for fourth place at 5-under 205, a shot behind Penn State’s Griffin. Clarke had opened with a sparkling 64 before adding a 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.

   Joining Clarke at 5-under were Wake Forest’s Andrew McLauchlan, a freshman from Neptune Beach, Fla., and the College of Charleston’s Max Dupree, a junior from Greensboro, Ga.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 70, McLauchlan added a 3-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before finishing up with a solid 68. After opening with a 1-over 71, Dupree registered back-to-back 3-under 67s in the final two rounds.

   McLauchlan’s Wake Forest teammate, Marshall Meisel, a sophomore from Chevy Chase, Md., headed a group of four players tied for seventh place at 4-under 206. Meisel contributed a 4-under 66 to the final-round surge by the Demon Deacons. He had had been even-par after opening with a 69 and adding a 1-over 71 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.

   Morjan’s Furman teammate, Sam Lape, a senior from Atlanta, also landed in the group at 4-under as he carded back-to-back 2-under 68s in the opening-day double round before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Cincinnati’s Ty Gingerich, a junior from Russiaville, Ind., was under par in all three rounds to join the group at 204. He opened with a 2-under 68 before recording a pair of 69s in the final two rounds.

   Rounding out the foursome at 4-under was Georgia Southern’s Mason Williams, a fifth-year player from Bridgeport, W.Va. who went off in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to the tune of sizzling 7-under 63. Williams had opened with a 2-over 72 and finished up with a 71.

   Backing up Griffin for Penn State was senior Patrick Sheehan, the 2018 District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East. Sheehan, who earned a second straight trip to the U.S. Amateur in the summer, opened with a solid 3-under 67 and struggled a little in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a 2-over 72 before closing with a solid 69 to finish among the group tied for 12^th place with a 2-under 208 total.

   Sophomore Morgan Lofland, a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Conestoga, was solid in finishing in the group tied for 24^th place at even-par 210. Lofland added a 1-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening round of 1-over 71 before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   It was a solid showing by freshman Billy Pabst Jr., who lost in a playoff in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County as a senior at North Pocono a year ago. Pabst bounced back from an opening-round 74 with a 2-under 68 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 1-over 71 to finish among the group tied for 34^th place with a 3-over 213 total.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was James Allen, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y. who finished in the group tied for 52^nd place with a 222 total. Allen was solid in the opening-day double round, adding a 3-over 73 in the afternoon to an opening-round 72, but struggled to a 77 in the final round.