Lemont, Ill. -- Taking to the course for the final time in 2024, the Thunder men's golf team traveled down the road yesterday and today to participate in Lewis University's Flyers Fall Intercollegiate. Matched up alongside 16 non-conference programs in the two-round event, the competing Wheaton contingent eventually earned an eighth-place finish in the contest. Senior Jonah Swartz saved his best for last, shooting a 73 (+1) in Tuesday's second round to register the top score among the five Thunder players participating in the final fall event.

The Wheaton squad sat in 12th place in the 17-team standings after Monday's opening round, but the Thunder rallied to shoot a combined 311 across today's 18 holes to improve their first-day showing by four strokes and subsequently moved up four slots in the team rankings this afternoon. Wheaton finished the competition with a combined overall score of 626 for the two rounds, placing them four strokes behind Davenport University in seventh place and one shot ahead of Lincoln University in ninth.

Swartz mirrored the team's performance and started the competition slowly with an 81 (+9) in yesterday's round, but the veteran found his form on day two and shot up the solo leaderboard thanks to his team-best score of 73 today. Swartz eventually tied for 19th place in the 96-player standings via a two-day tally of 154 (+10).

Wyatt Brown (pictured below) posted the best score for the Thunder team in round one yesterday with a 77 (+5) and carded an 81 in Tuesday's action to enter the clubhouse with a final competition mark of 158 to tie for 36th place along with nine other golfers.
    One of those ten golfers to also finish the week with a score of 158 was the freshman Freddie Chan (pictured right), who posted similar round marks of 78 and 80 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to close out his first semester of collegiate competition with a top 40 placement. 










Brown's classmate Baylor Brogan (pictured below) tied for 50th in the individual standings after carding a solid 79 in yesterday's opening round before shooting an 81 across today's 18 holes to account for a two-day total score of 160.
   
    Senior Sam Obitts (pictured right) improved upon his Monday mark of 92 by a notable 15 strokes in today's round to end the event and his semester with a two-round tally of 169 and move up 14 places in the solo standings from yesterday's position. 











After securing a top-half finish in their last competition of the calendar year, the Wheaton men's golfers will now enter a six-month break between seasons and can look forward to their return to play in the spring of 2025.