TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Defending champion Allegheny College was voted first in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) men's golf preseason poll for the 2024-25 season, as voted on by the conference's nine head coaches. The results of this year's poll were revealed with the PAC's Players to Watch List Thursday. 

Allegheny, who rallied on the final day at the conference championships last spring to win their 14th PAC title, was selected first on eight ballots and scored 64 points to rank No. 1 in this year's preseason poll. Following the Gators was Washington & Jefferson College, last year's PAC Championship runner-up, in second place with 52 points and the final first place vote. 

In third place was Westminster College, who totaled 49 to edge out Grove City College (48) by a single point. Taking fifth place was Saint Vincent College with 29 points, followed by Geneva College in sixth (28), Thiel College in seventh (23), Waynesburg University (16) and Bethany College (15)

Allegheny, who was behind by six shots entering the final round, and W&J went back and forth through the final 18 holes last spring, with several ties and lead changes. On the final hole of the Tournament, the Gators led by one stroke when rising senior Carter Hassenplug (North East, Pa./North East) clinched the title with a remarkable shot. After his second 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 the PAC title.

Following the dramatic comeback, Allegheny head coach Jeff Groff, now entering his 24th year leading the program, was chosen as the PAC Coach of the Year. While the PAC title was the 14th for the Gators, it was their first since returning to the league prior to the 2022-23 year and first since 1984.

This year's Players to Watch list features Hassenplug, a two-time PAC Player of the Year, as well as three others who were First Team All-PAC a year ago. In all, 11 all-conference players return this year, including the four First Team All-PAC players, three who earned Second Team All-PAC and four All-PAC Honorable Mention honorees.

Hassenplug's final shot on 18 last year completed a historic round and tournament. He finished that 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. Hassenplug 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 Revak won it four straight years from 1995-98.

If Hassenplug is able to win a third title this year, he will join Revak as the only players in PAC history to win more than two individual conference championships.

Other players back after First Team All-PAC performances a season ago include Waynesburg junior Matthew Karpeal (Smithfield, Pa./Albert Gallatin), Grove City senior Adam Steinmetz (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and W&J junior Andrew Platt (Somerset, Pa./Somerset). Karpeal finished third at the 2024 Championships after scoring a four-round total of 298, making him the first Waynesburg player to earn first team all-conference laurels since 2011.

For Steinmetz, who placed fourth last year after shooting 302, it was his third All-PAC honors after earning Second Team distinction in 2022 and 2023. It was also the initial First Team recognition for Platt, who was fifth overall (303), and a follow-up all-conference honor after a Second Team accolade in 2023. Steinmetz (2022) and Platt (2023) are also previous PAC Newcomer of the Year winners.

The Players to Watch list includes nine members of the Spring 2024 PAC Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes on varsity sports teams who earned a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale during their semester of competition. 

This year’s PAC Championships will feature a 72-hole stroke play event, beginning with 36 holes played Monday-Tuesday, October 14-15 at the Avalon Golf and Country Club. The men will play two rounds at Avalon Lakes in Warren, Ohio.

The final 36 holes of this year’s championships will be played Friday-Saturday, April 25-26, 2025 at Mill Creek Metroparks and the Mill Creek Golf Course in Boardman, Ohio, with the men playing their final two rounds on the South Course.  

The All-PAC teams, along with the PAC Players of the Year and PAC Newcomers of the Year, are determined by the combined 72-hole scores from the fall and spring championships. The All-PAC teams are made up of the top 15 overall scorers (5 first team, 5 second team, 5 honorable mention). The combined 72-hole team totals determine PAC team champions and winners of the league's automatic-qualifying bid to the Division III Championships.

The 2025 Division III Men's Championships are scheduled for May 20-23 at Midvale Country Club in Penfield, NY. 
 

2024-25 PAC Men's Golf Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2023-24 Conference Championships finish
1. Allegheny College (8)	64	1st (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1205[301-306-305-293]
2. Washington & Jefferson College (1)	52	2nd (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1208 [304-304-300-302]
3. Westminster College	49	3rd (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1235 [312-315-308-300]
4. Grove City College	48	4th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1265 [322-302-323-318]
5. Saint Vincent College	29	5th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1283 [330-324-316-313]
6. Geneva College	28	6th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1336 [340-344-329-323]
7. Thiel College	23	7th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1345 [363-329-327-326]
8. Waynesburg University	16	8th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1362 [341-331-351-339]
9. Bethany College	15	9th (of 9) at PAC Championships, 1404 [348-360-346-350]

2024-25 PAC Men's Golf Players to Watch
1=2024 1st Team All-PAC / 2=2nd Team All-PAC / HM = Honorable Mention

Allegheny College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Carter Hassenplug (1)	Sr.	North East, Pa./North East
Zach Melzar (2)	Sr.	Sterling, Mass./Wachusett Regional

 

Bethany College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Macen Benderman	Fr.	Grand Haven, Mich./Fruitport
Sam Phillips	So.	Charleston, W.Va./Herbert Hoover
Cooper Poe	Fr.	New Martinsville, W.Va./Magnolia

 

Geneva College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Michael DeMiere	Sr.	North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
Ryan Edwards	So.	North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
Tim Ehko	Jr.	Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim
Austin Goehring	Jr.	Mount Pleasant, Pa./Southmoreland
Josh Hido	Sr.	Kent, Ohio/Theodore Roosevelt

 

Grove City College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Aidan Allen	Sr.	Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central
Adam Steinmetz (1)	Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny
Max Vaughn (HM)	Sr.	Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern

 

Saint Vincent College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Brendan Cooley	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Serra Catholic
Colt Easterling	Jr.	Wye Mills, Md./Saints Peter and Paul
Matt Edwards	So.	Bedford, Pa./Bedford

   

Thiel College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Patrick Belback	Sr.	Greenville, Pa./Reynolds
Marc Knox	Sr.	Franklin, Pa./Franklin

   

Washington & Jefferson College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Luke Eckmann	Jr.	Clancy, Mont./Jefferson
Luke Melisko (2)	Sr.	Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley
Andrew Platt (1)	Jr.	Somerset, Pa./Somerset
Ryan Steigerwald	So.	Mars, Pa. Mars Area

 

Waynesburg University
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Matthew Karpeal (1)	Jr.	Smithfield, Pa./Albert Gallatin
Hudson Pincavitch	Jr.	Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central
Alan Tarolli	Fr.	Washington, Pa./Fort Cherry

 

Westminster College
Name	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Ellian Ascencio (2)	Sr.	Venetia, Pa./Peters Township
Gavin Batdorff (HM)	Sr.	Berlin Center, Ohio/South Range
Tyler Hager (HM)	So.	Lehighton, Pa./Palmerton
Joe Trudeau	Grad.	Ann Arbor, Mich./Skyline