Boulder City, NV. - After playing 36 holes, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team wrapped up their NCAA DII National Championships with the third and final round on Wednesday. The Cardinals teed off in the first group of the day, and bounced back by equaling their day one score. It was a big round by graduate student Sean Dobson that led the way, as the Cardinals finished 19th with a three-day score of 899.
After shooting a combined +6 through the first two days of competition, Dobson came back in a big way, shooting a 70 (-2) over the final 18 holes. It was a strong start that got him going, as he birdied on three of the first six holes, putting pars in between each one of those finishes. He sat at –3 entering hole seven. But would add two more strokes before hitting the turn. He entered the back nine still sitting under par at –1, and began with a birdie to start the second half. His turning point came on holes 11, 12, and 13, when Dobson would hit three straight birdies, bringing his total to six for the round. He would add two more strokes over the final five holes, but finished under par for the first time in the tournament. It brought his three-day total to 220 (+4) as he led the Cardinals on the National Championship stage.
Finishing right behind him was sophomore Zak Collins, who finished with a 74 (+2) for the day. After paring on his first three holes, he would add his first stroke on hole four. However, not only did he get that stroke back, but he got another as well with an Eagle on five to move to –1. He went back even on the next hole and hit the turn at +1 with nine to play. He started the back nine with two pars, and hit a second Eagle on hole 13, bringing his score back even once again. However, he pared three of the final five holes, adding two strokes to finish at +2, bringing his three-day total to 221 (+5). Elias Ekenes-Fosback rounded out the top three, shooting a tournament best 75 (+3) in the round. After shooting +2 on the front nine, he came back with five straight pars to start the back nine. However, his score swelled to +4, before he fought over the last three holes. He finished with two birdies and a par, to get back to +3 for the round. Overall, he finished at 152 across two rounds of action in his Nation al Championship debut.
Rounding out the scoring portion of the day was freshman Luke Wennberg, who finished with a 77 (+5) to round out the event. Like a lot of his teammates, the back nine would be his most successful stretch, with all three of his birdies coming during the run. He would hit back-to-back on 15 and 16 to get back on track, and a par on 17 rounded out his day. The final Cardinal to take the course was Troy Loughry, who finished with a two-round score of 163 for the event. He subbed back in after missing round two, and took one stroke off his day one score. The back nine would be his top showing, as he started things out with four straight pars. He would bridie on two of the final three holes as he rounded out his National Championship appearance.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team now heads into the off-season as they look to return to the National Championship stage in 2027.
