Final Results
LEBANON, Pa.- With a final round of 297, the West Chester University men's golf team captured its sixth PSAC Championship in team history and its first since 2018, finishing the Tournament with a 54-hole score of 891 (295, 299, 297; 891). This Championship, aside from being the Golden Rams' first under head coach
Chris Merce and the first since 2018, also punches the Golden Rams' ticket to the NCAA Atlantic/East Regional Championships in May, as the Golden Rams finished the Tournament four strokes clear of Pitt-Johnstown (895) and nine strokes clear of 2024 Champion Gannon (900).
"This weekend was a complete team effort," started head coach
Chris Merce. "We got major contributions from every player in the lineup throughout the three days of the championship. Our team's belief and confidence in each other was absolutely the deciding factor this week. With such a young team, I was really proud of how we maintained our composure on the back 9 today when the wind picked up and the scoring conditions became extremely difficult."
Paul-Arthur Roth (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) was the Golden Rams' top individual finisher in a tie for fifth at +5 (73, 71, 77;221 ) and was one of three Golden Rams in the top-10. Roth made a pair of birdies on the back nine, carding a birdie on the par-four 11
th for the second day in a row before adding another birdie on the par-four 14
th to play the back nine at even par.
William Hilton (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) was the biggest mover for West Chester on Sunday as he climbed 12 spots and moved into a tie for seventh after a stellar final round, which included a four-under (32) on the front nine with birdies on the first three holes and another birdie on the par-four sixth. Hilton shot a one-under 71 in his final round to finish the Tournament at +6 after firing a 74 and 75 in his first two rounds.
Patrick Carl (Mount Airy, Md./South Carroll) was the third and final Golden Ram in the top-10, finishing in a tie for 10th at +8 with a two-over 74 in his final round. Carl carded five birdies in the final round, including the par-four second, the par-four sixth, par-five seventh, par-five 13
th, and par-five 16
th.
Evan Jozwiak (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) finished 12th at +9 with a final round of 76 after shooting a 75 and 74 in his first two rounds.
Yamato Kimura (Kuwana Mie, Japan/Monteverde Academy) also climbed the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon, moving 11 spots into a tie for 22
nd with a resilient 76, which included a birdie on the par-four 10
th to open his back nine. Kimura finished the Championships at +17 with rounds of 79, 78, and 76 on Sunday afternoon.
West Chester led the field in birdies (41) and pars with 156 and handled the par-fours of Iron Valley as well as any team in the field throughout the week, finishing with a 4.21 scoring average (+32) for the 54-hole Tournament. Roth and Hilton played a significant role in this effort as they ranked first and second in the field in par-four scoring average at 3.97 (-1) and 4.03 (+1), respectively.
West Chester also finished the weekend third in the field in par-five scoring average, posting a 4.82 average (-11) for the Championship.
Carl led the field in birdies with 12, while Roth, who tied with Jozwiak for second in the field in pars with 33, ranked in a tie for third in birdies with 10.
Eli Ropietski of Pitt-Johnstown won the individual title via a tiebreak based on final round score after remaining tied with Guillermo Salazar at +3 for the Tournament after six playoff holes. Ropietski's final round of one-under-par was three strokes better than Salazar's as he completed an impressive comeback after firing a 78 in the opening round on Friday.
PSAC Championships
Location: Iron Valley Golf Club
Par-Yardage: 72-6,750
Team Champion: West Chester 891 (295, 299, 297)
Individual Champion: Eli Ropietski (UPJ) +3 (78, 70, 71; 219)
West Chester
T5 Roth +5 (73, 71, 77; 221)
T7 Hitlon +6 (75, 76, 71; 222)
T10 Carl +8 (72, 78, 74; 224)
12 Jozwiak +9 (75, 74. 76; 225)
T22 Kimura +17 (79, 78, 76; 233)
Up Next
The PSAC Champions, who debuted at third in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings last week, will wrap up their fall season on October 27 and 28 at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate hosted by Wagner at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, New Jersey.
