Allegheny Claims 2023-24 PAC Men's Golf Championship (2024)

Allegheny championship team picture courtesy of Robert Hayes

BOARDMAN, Ohio (pacathletics.org) - Capped off by a dramatic chip-in for birdie on the final hole to complete a Tournament-best round of 293, Allegheny College won the 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Golf Championship, the first for the Gators since returning to the conference in 2022 and 14th PAC championship in program history.

The final two rounds were played atMill Creek Golf Coursein Boardman, Ohio, with teams playing the Donald Ross-designed South Course, a 6526-yard, par-70 layout.

The PAC title is the first for Allegheny since 1984, which was the final year the Gators were in the league before joining the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Allegheny returned to the PAC in 2022-23 and fell short of the title a season ago to Washington & Jefferson College by a stroke before coming back to win the crown this season.

With the win, the Gators earned the PAC's automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships,which will be their first trip to the national championships since 2006. The Division III Men's Championships are scheduled for May 14-17 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada.

Allegheny, who was behind by six shots entering Saturday, finished the four-round event with a total score of 1205, while W&J placed second with 1208. Westminster College took third place with a total of 1235, followed in fourth place by Grove City College with 1265. Completing the team scores was Saint Vincent College in fifth (1283), Geneva College in sixth place (1336), Thiel College in seventh (1345), Waynesburg University in eight place (1362) and Bethany College in ninth (1404).

The Gators and Presidents went back and forth through the final 18 rounds, with several ties and lead changes. On the final hole of the Tournament, the Gators led by one shot when junior Carter Hassenplug clinched the title with a remarkable shot. After hissecond shot landed in the center of the fairway, just shy of the green and about 30 feet from the pin, he chipped the ball onto the front of the green and rolled it perfectly to the hole for a clutch birdie and the exclamation point on their PAC title.

In addition to clinching the conference title, Hassenplug's shot also completed a historic round and tournament. The Gator junior finished the day at three-under, 67 to close out at even-par, 284 for the Tournament, as he won his second consecutive PAC Player of the Year award. He is the ninth player in conference history to win multiple Player of the Year awards and first to win it in back-to-back seasons since W&J's Mike Revakwon it four straight years from 1995-98.

Joining Hassenplug on First Team All-PAC were two players from W&J, including senior Luke Listini, who had back-to-back rounds of 72-72 in the spring to finish second at 295, and sophom*ore Andrew Platt, who came in fifth place (303). Taking third was Waynesburg sophom*ore Matthew Karpeal with a 298 and in fourth place was Grove City junior Adam Steinmetz at 302.

The PAC Newcomer of the Year Award went to Bethany College freshman Jude Smith, who tied with fellow first-year player Tyler Hager from Westminster with scores of 313. Both earned Honorable Mention All-PAC by tying for 14th place, but Smith earned the Newcomer award by virtue of a scorecard tiebreaker.

The PAC Coach of the Year award to Allegheny's Jeff Groff, who in his 23rd year guiding the program led the Gators to the come-from-behind victory on Saturday.

The All-PAC teams, along with the PAC Player of the Year and PAC Newcomer of the Year, are determined by the combined 72-hole scores from the fall and spring championships. A player must compete in all four rounds in the fall and spring to be eligible for All-PAC honors.

The PAC also released its 2023-24 Men's Golf Sportsmanship Team (linked above). The PAC Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all PAC teams and student-athletes.

PAC Award Winners
PAC Player of the Year: Allegheny junior Carter Hassenplug
PAC Newcomer of the Year: Bethany freshman Jude Smith
PAC Coach of the Year: Allegheny Head Coach Jeff Groff