HERSHEY, Pa. - In the closest team finish at the Centennial Conference men's golf championship in 21 years, Franklin & Marshall edged Gettysburg by the narrowest of margins to claim its conference-leading 11th CC title on Sunday at Hershey Country Club's East Course.
Trailing by three strokes entering Sunday's final round, the Diplomats posted a day-two score of 310 to outlast the Bullets for the team crown in the 36-hole event. F&M's two-day total of 624 strokes defeated Gettysburg (625) by just one stroke, tying the second-closest finish in CC championship history. In 2000, McDaniel (640) edged Ursinus (641) by one stroke. In 1997, Muhlenberg and Ursinus tied with scores of 963, the only time there was a tie at the top of the team leaderboard at the conference tournament.
Dickinson finished in third place with 646 strokes, followed by McDaniel (656), Muhlenberg (680) and Ursinus (706) in the fourth through sixth, respectively.
Gettysburg's Quinn Greene took home the individual title, carding a two-day score of 148 (71-77) that included an even-par 71 on day one. Greene's 71 was the top single-round score in the field by three strokes, and the Bullet senior won medalist honors by four strokes over the 36 holes. He becomes the 13th wire-to-wire individual champion in CC history and eighth Gettysburg player to claim the honor.
F&M's Jas Fuhrer placed second individually with rounds of 75-77 (152), trailing Greene by four strokes. Teammate Jared Berlin secured fourth place at 81-74 (155), with his day-two round of 74 proving critical to the Diplomats' title surge. Dickinson's Peter Lown finished in third place (77-77-154) to pace the Red Devils. Gettysburg's Hayden Moffat rounded out the top-five individual placings at 78-78-156.
With the win, the Diplomats earn the Centennial's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, W.V. from May 11-14.