Oilers Fall in Heartbreaking Fashion at G-MAC Championship | Finish Runner-Up
Lexington, Ky. - Had this Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) been played a year ago, the Findlay Oilers men's golf team would have been crowned as champions as they had the lead through 54 holes of stroke play. However, on Saturday, April 16, the G-MAC debuted a new system of determining a champion, medal match play, which is currently used to determine both the men's and women's national champion, as well. The Oilers were matched up with the Tiffin Dragons for the final 18 holes and came up just short as the tournament ended in dramatic fashion, givine Findlay a runner-up finish at the University Club of Kentucky's Big Blue Course.
In Saturday's final round, Findlay put together a score of 287 (-1) which put them at 875 (+11) for the tournament, the best in the field and three shots ahead of Tiffin. Senior Tanner Grzegorczyk shot a 69 (-3) on Saturday to give him a solo-second place finish and all-conference honors.
Senior Parker Haynes put together the best round of the day, firing a 68 (-4) to fly up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for seventh, giving him all-conference honors, as well.
Sophomore Justin Atkinson finished in a tie for 15th after shooting a 73 (+1) while sophomore Donnie Professori was tied for 23rd after a 78 (+6) and Brock Kehres shot 77 (+5) to finish in a tie for 28th.
Moving into the medal match play portion of the event, the Oilers and Dragons were set to sqaure off. The event would be decided by each of the five matchups as players went head-to-head against eachother. The winner of a match would be determined by total strokes and the team that wins at least three matches, declared the conference champion.
The match was back and forth throughout as each team held a three-match lead at least once during the round. The first match in was Kehres, who shot 73 (+1) and fell by one shot to his playing partner Niko Kyprian of Tiffin who shot 72 (E).
Donnie Professori was next to finish, winning his matchup by five shots after shooting 74 (+2), beating Matt Flynn who shot a 79 (+7).
Atkinson came in next and, after trailing by three strokes through five holes and trailing by two through 14 holes, battled back to win by one. He shot 71 (-1), defeating Tiffin's Noah Barth, giving Findlay a 2-1 lead.
Parker Haynes overcame a double-bogey on the first to tie the his match through four holes, but ultimately fell by four after shooting a 73 (+1). Tiffin's David Siegel shot the best round of the medal matach play portion, posting a 69 (-3).
With the event tied, it was then up to Grzegorczyk. The senior standout led by three strokes with five holes to play. An unfortunate triple-bogey on the difficult 14th hole pulled the match even with four to play. He made par on 16 and 17, taking a one-shot lead into the last. Grzegorczyk's second shot on the 18th was left of the green in the rough, and Tiffin's Michael Weppernig then spun his approach back to the flag, leaving a tap in birdie. Grzegorczyk could not get up and down and Weppernig made the short putt, sealing a dramatic win for the Dragons, leaving the Oilers, the top ranked team in the midwest region, in shock.
Findlay will undooubtedly qualify for regional competition which will be played on May 5-7 in Noblesville, Ind. at the familiar Purgatory Golf Club. Despite Saturday's loss, the Oilers will be serious contenders in the event in a region loaded with talented teams.