This past Tuesday, both the men’s and women’s golf teams played at Crooked Stick Golf Club in the Big Four Classic—that included teams from Hanover College, Franklin College, and Division I Butler University.
The course has hosted a PGA Championship, a U.S. Women’s Open, and the BMW championship—and now has hosted the Tigers.
“It is by far the best course that we get to play throughout the season and it is always fun playing a course that has hosted PGA tour events before,” junior Drake Dunway said.
Both teams were lead by first-year standouts, Andrew Derringer and Kharissa Carras.
“It was awesome to play well on such a renowned course,” Derringer said about the event.
Derringer went on to shoot a one-over-par at 73, and tied for third overall in the classic, beating out Division I players from Butler.
As a whole, the men’s team shot a 305, earning a third place finish on the day. Senior Eric Tandy tied for seventh with a 75, while first-year Jackson Mihevc’s 78 got him an 11th place tie. Senior Ty Frost shot an 82 and individual sophomore Quinn Smith shot an 87.
Dunway, who finished with a 79, said, “It was nice to play well there, but I wish I could have finished the round a little better. The player on our team who really played well was freshman Andrew Derringer who shot 73, which was extremely impressive.”
One of the benefits Derringer had was a sense of hometown advantage.
“It was nice playing at Crooked Stick because it was close to home. I felt really comfortable on the course,” Derringer said.
Carras, who tied for fourth overall on the day for the women’s team, didn’t know the course as well as Derringer but still had a good day.
“Crooked Stick is a really well-known course and I had never played it before so it was a neat opportunity to play the same course as where the BMW Championship and PGA Championship have been held,” Carras said.
Carras’ unfamiliarity with the course could be a cause for the struggles she faced right out of the gate.
“I had a rough first nine holes but I really came back on my second nine,” Carras said. “I was proud of myself for that because it's a difficult course and I had been struggling with my short game all day.”
The women’s team as a whole shot a 355 on the day, taking fourth place. Sophomore Alexandria Ramirez finished eighth with an 85. First-year Annie Dixon shot a 94, and her classmate Emily Galloway shot a 95.
Playing, and in some cases defeating, Division I Butler was a fun experience for both teams.
“Butler has a really talented team and it was a good learning experience for us to play with them to see how they play and use course management in comparison to us,” Carras said.
The men’s team beat Butler last year, and Dunway said, “It’s fun to play against Division I teams like Butler, I just wished we would have beaten them like we did last year.”
The women’s team will be back at it in Illinois Wesleyan University’s Spring Fling starting April 11th. The men’s team will be playing next on April 18th at the Nye Intercollegiate at The College of Wooster.