Defiance College hosts Yellow Jacket Invitational at Eagle Rock

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College men's golf team hosted the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Eagle Rock Golf Course on Wednesday with teams from six institutions making their way to Defiance.

The University of Northwestern Ohio bested the field in both the individual and team scores over Lourdes and two teams from Ohio Northern while Defiance and Anderson submitted individuals only. The Racers carded a 292 to edge out the Gray Wolves from Lourdes by five strokes. The pair of Polar Bear squads charted in at 306 and 332.

On the individual side, UNOH's Luke Turner and Guillermo Garron each submitted even-par rounds of 70 to send the individual title into a sudden-death playoff. Turner landed his second shot inside of 10 feet from the pin and sank a birdie putt to claim the title while Garron's 30-foot attempt missed short just moments earlier.

The rest of the top five ended with Ohio Northern's Jack Murphy placing third with a round of 72. Carter Schimmoeller of UNOH gave the Racers a third golfer on the all-tournament team with a fourth-place 73, while ONU's Evan Dennison rounded out the top five with a round of 74.

For Defiance, Seth Pearson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrup) and Zach Canterbury (Tontogany, Ohio/Otsego) recorded career-best rounds of 88. For Canterbury, he bettered his previous top score by 10 strikes, a 98, during the DIII Showcase at French Lick two weeks ago. Pearson shot an 89 at the same tournament to turn in his best card since joining the team in the spring and birdied the 18th and third holes. Canterbury also had a circle on his scorecard on the par-3 third hole.

Payton Switzer (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) also competed and scored a 105 for the Yellow Jackets. Grant Johnson (Waynesville, Ohio/Waynesville) and Will Garlock (Lima, Ohio/Lima Central Catholic) finished in the bottom two of the leaderboard. Johnson finished with a score of 107 and Garlock scored a 119. 

The next competition for the men's golf program is at the HCAC Championships on May 5-7 at Belterra Golf Club in Florence, Ind.

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