Rogers leads DC at spring opener at Island Pointe
KODAK, Tenn. – The Defiance College men's golf team opened the spring season by hosting the Island Pointe Intercollegiate at Island Pointe Golf Club on Thursday and Friday.
Leading the 17-team, 94-golfer field, Spartanburg Methodist captured the team title with a 612 over the two-day tournament, finishing one stroke shy of setting the tournament record of 611 by Abraham Baldwin at the 2025 Island Pointe Intercollegiate. The Pioneers bested second-place finisher William Penn by 15 strokes, while the Statemen made a strong second day charge to move up four positions with a 305 on Friday.
Defiance's four teams were found in 11th, 12th, 14th, and 16th. While all four teams compiled better rounds on Friday than on Thursday, Team A cleared the top team score by DC with a 664 to better last year's 665 at Island Pointe.
Individually, Spartanburg's Evan Cheek posted a 147 with rounds of 72 and 75 to capture medalist honors. William Penn's Mario Palain led the field on Friday with a 69 after he shot 79 on Thursday, moving up from 19th to start the day to finish second.
Brian Rogers was DC's top golfer for the weekend with a 29th-place finish with a 36-hole total of 162 to lead Team B. After matching Peyton Thomas for the lowest round on Thursday, Rogers came back with an 82 on Friday. He finished one stroke better than Colton Schroeder's 163, who led Team A with rounds of 82 and 81. Owen Massey carded the Yellow Jackets' lowest round of the tournament, shooting a 79 on Friday with one birdie and 10 pars. Brendan Garvin owned the steepest scoring drop from the first round to the second when he shaved 12 strokes off his first round 92 to shoot 80 on Friday. Landon Scarrette, Wyatt Weaver and Bretton Basford also clipped 10 shots off their Thursday rounds during Friday's action. Among the scoring highlights of the tournament, DC's Zack Palmer owned one of five eagles during the tournament when he eagled on Friday.
Team A: 333, 331 (664, 11th)
- Colten Schroeder: 82, 81 (163, T31st)
- Sam Theissler: 81, 85 (166, T40th)
- Jordan Walford: 85, 82 (167, T46th)
- Brayden Allen: 85, 84 (169, T53rd)
- Zack Palmer: 89, 84 (173, 65th)
Team B: 337, 331 (668, 12th)
- Brian Rogers: 80, 82 (162, T29th)
- Peyton Thomas: 80, 87 (167, T46th)
- Dylan Thomas: 88, 83 (171, T58th)
- Owen Massey: 96, 79 (175, T68th)
- Alex Moritz: 89, 88 (177, T72nd)
Team C: 352, 345 (697, 14th)
- Ethan Schnitkey: 82, 85 (167, T46th)
- Blake Beaulieu: 86, 84 (170, T55th)
- Landon Scarrette: 93, 83 (176, 71st)
- JR Sobecki: 95, 93 (188, T83rd)
- Trey Homan: 91, 99 (190, 86th)
Team D: 372, 338 (710, 16th)
- Brenden Garvin: 92, 80 (172, T60th)
- Braden Bowman: 88, 86 (174, T66th)
- Wyatt Weaver: 94, 84 (178, T74th)
- Bretton Basford: 98, 88 (186, T81st)
- Elijah Nishizawa: 105, 98 (203, T90th)
Individuals
- Sam Boyles: 102, 99 (201, 89th)
- Cooper Sloan: 99, 104 (203, T90th)
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets are back in action next Saturday and Sunday at the Alice Lloyd Spring Invitational at Battlefield Golf Club in Richmond, Ky. Play is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. both days.
-JACKETS-
