The Georgia Northwestern men's golf team is just in their first year of eligibility for region and national tournament play.
As it turns out, the Bobcats are pretty fast learners.
Georgia Northwestern finished as the runner-up in their first Region XVII Golf Championship this week in Albany, coming in only behind nationally-ranked and host school Darton College.
However, they were the highest finishing Division III program in the field, earning themselves a Region XVII Division III trophy and, most importantly, an automatic berth at the NJCAA Division III Men's National Championship, which will be held in early June in western New York.
The team, comprised off just two sophomores and four freshmen, all from the northwest Georgia area, finished up with a final-round total of 897.
They opened the tournament with back-to-back scores of 304 and finished the tournament at 33–over par.
Darton, a Division II school, turned in the winning score of even par 864. Abraham Baldwin ranked third at 904 and Andrew College was fourth at 911, with Georgia Military College finishing fifth with a score of 975.
Individually, freshman Chase Cole (Dade County) led the Bobcats with a total of 216. He finished with a round of 4-under par 68 on Wednesday - the low round of the day - after shooting 77 and 71 in tournament’s first two rounds.
Cole finished second overall to Conner Waff of Darton College, who shot 5-under (67-71-73) for the week.
Freshman Jordan Estes (Ringgold) came in with a 3-under 69 on Wednesday on heels of 77 and 74 in his first two rounds. He tied for fourth at 220 and joined Cole on the All-Region Team.
Grant Allen (78-79-75) shot a 232 for the Bobcats, followed by Lanier Guest (73-80-77) at 236 and Drew Tankersley (77-81-78) at 236. Keaton Stanfield, playing as an individual carded a 231 (77-76-75).
GCAA Region XVII Men’s Golf Tournament
(Stonebridge Country Club, Albany, Ga., Par 72, 6,913 yards)
Final Results (3 rounds)
1. Darton College E 864 Division II
2. Georgia Northwestern +33 897 Division III
3. Abraham Baldwin +40 904 Division II
4. Andrew College +47 911 Division II
5. Ga. Military College +111 975 Division III