Consistent rounds helped a young Hillsdale College men's golf team to a respectable performance in its first appearance in the NCAA DII Central/Midwest Super Regional since 2021 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Chargers tied for 15th out of 20 teams in the event, but just 11 strokes out of seventh place in a tightly contested field in the event held at St. Joseph Country Club in St. Joseph, Missouri.

The Chargers shot rounds of 295, 296 and 294 to finish with a total of 885 for the event, carding nearly identical scores across the three days of competition. In a field packed with the best of the best in the Central and Midwest Regionals, Hillsdale sophomore Robert Thompson had a great performance, shooting a three-over 216 to finish inside the top 20 of the 127-golfer field in a tie for 19th place. 

Thompson was Hillsdale's only golfer to break par with his second round 70, and just missed par in his third and final round with a one-over 72 in a solid all-around showing. 

The sophomore was closely followed by teammate and junior Maxwell Burns, who shot a seven-over 220 to finish tied for 36th, with an even par round of 71 in his first round on Thursday, and a round of 72 to close out the Super Regional on Saturday.

Ryan O'Rourke shot a 76-73-75=224 to finish finished tied for 66th at 11-over in his first regional appearance for the Chargers, while freshman Jackson Piacsek rebounded from a first round 81 to shoot 76-75 and finish in 96th place with a 232, and senior Filippo Reale carded solid rounds of 74 and 75 to finish right behind Piacsek in 97th place.

Hillsdale was in 10th as a team entering the final round but couldn't go low on the final day as other teams moved up, dropping back to 15th in the final standings.

Overall, the experience was a positive for a young Chargers team getting its first taste of Super Regional competition. Four of Hillsdale's five golfers in this year's Super Regional are slated to return next year, with Thompson, O'Rourke and Piacsek all with multiple seasons still left to play. The Chargers also will get back Oliver Marshall next season. Marshall was Hillsdale's best golfer as a freshman in 2023-24 and missed this season with an injury.

Photo by Connor Timmons, Missouri Western Athletics