Men's Golf | 10/11/2026 12:00:00 PM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Winners of 16 conference championships, including three consecutive titles, Allegheny College was voted first in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) men's golf pre-championships poll for 2026-27, as voted on by the conference's 11 head coaches. The results of the poll were revealed with the PAC's Players to Watch List Sunday.
This year's PAC Championships will feature a 72-hole stroke play event, beginning with 36 holes played Monday-Tuesday, October 12-13 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 23-24, 2027 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.
Allegheny secured top billing in the poll by appearing first on seven ballots and scoring 87 points. The Gators are led by first-year head coach Carter Hassenplug, a three-time PAC individual champion who takes the reins after Jeff Groff retired following 41 years at the College. Grove City College came in second place in this year's poll with 79 points and four first-place votes and Washington & Jefferson College placed third with 68 points.
Finishing in fourth place was Saint Vincent College, who scored 63 points to place in front of Westminster College (57) in fifth and Waynesburg University (42) in sixth place. Seventh place went to Thiel College (33), followed by Bethany College in eight (31), Geneva College in ninth (27) and Hiram College (18). Saint Francis University, who was not counted in the 2026-27 poll, had one golfer named to the Watch List.
The 2026-27 season is Saint Francis' first in the PAC, as the Red Wolves begin conference competition while reclassifying from Division I to Division III. Saint Francis, whose results will not count in the conference during SFU's reclassifying process, will have their players recognized with PAC Coaches Honors in lieu of All-PAC recognition if they finish in the top 15 at conference championships.
Allegheny's third straight PAC title did not come easily, as the Gators' nine-shot advantage after the two Fall rounds was cut to one by W&J entering the spring's final 18 holes. Allegheny, behind two players scoring 72 in the last round, posted a Tournament-low 294 to pull away through the last day and finish with a score of 1203 to win the Championship by 22 shots.
Both major award winners and the top three finishers from last year's Championships return to highlight the PAC Players to Watch List. Grove City junior Luke Gronbeck was the Player of the Year after finishing first and Allegheny sophomore Christopher Hoffman earned Newcomer of the Year after he was the runner. They are joined by eight others on the Watch list who were all-conference players last season.
In winning the individual PAC title last year, Gronbeck went 67-72-69 through the initial 54 holes to have a 12-stroke lead after three rounds, but he needed a 12-foot putt to save par on the final hole and avoid a playoff with Hoffman, whose final-round 72 had moved him within a stroke. Gronbeck would sink the putt to win the PAC individual title with a four-round score of 292 and became the first Grove City player to win the individual championship since Cole McCook won it in 2019.
Although Hoffman didn't win, his overall score of 293 did place him second to gather First Team All-PAC honors. He was also the highest first-year player to finish, which earned Hoffman PAC Newcomer of the Year, the first Gator to win the top newcomer honor from the conference.
Two other First Team All-PAC players from last year is on this year's Watch List. Westminster senior Tyler Hager, who posted a final total of 296 for the Championships to finish third overall a year ago, is back for the Titans, while W&J has junior Matthew Morelli returning after he tied for fifth place with a four-round score of 300.
The Players to Watch list includes six members of the Spring 2026 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.
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 2027 Division III Men's Championships are scheduled for May 18-21 at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va.
| 2026-27 PAC Men's Golf Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish) |
| School (first-place votes) |
Points |
2025-26 Conference Championships finish |
| 1. Allegheny College (7) |
87 |
1st (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1203 |
| 2. Grove City College (4) |
79 |
3rd (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1241 |
| 3. Washington & Jefferson College |
68 |
2nd (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1225 |
| 4. Saint Vincent College |
63 |
4th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1248 |
| 5. Westminster College |
57 |
6th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1267 |
| 6. Waynesburg University |
42 |
7th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1285 |
| 7. Thiel College |
33 |
5th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1266 |
| 8. Bethany College |
31 |
8th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1219 |
| 9. Geneva College |
27 |
10th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1325 |
| 10. Hiram College |
18 |
9th (of 10) at PAC Championships, 1321 |
| Saint Francis University* |
--- |
12th at NEC Championships |
2026-27 PAC Men's Golf Players to Watch
1=2026 1st Team All-PAC / 2=2nd Team All-PAC / HM = Honorable Mention
| Allegheny College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Christopher Hoffman (1) |
So. |
Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny |
| Mekayl Maajid (2) |
Jr. |
Lahore, Pakistan/Roots Ivy International |
| Bethany College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Payton Hildebrand |
Sr. |
Wellsburg, W.Va./Wheeling Central |
| Samuel Phillips |
Sr. |
Charleston, W.Va./Herbert Hoover |
| Jude Smith (2) |
Sr. |
Weirton, W.Va./Weir |
| Geneva College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Christopher Brown |
Fr. |
Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area |
| Ryan Edwards (2) |
Jr. |
North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin |
| Linkoln Gundacker |
Jr. |
Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro |
| Grove City College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Luke Gronbeck (1) |
Jr. |
Gibsonia, Pa./Eden Christian |
| Nathan Young |
Sr. |
Street, Md./Homeschooled |
| Hiram College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Noah Burke |
Jr. |
Bucyrus, Ohio/Bucyrus |
| Michael Clark |
Sr. |
Andover, Ohio/Pymatuning Valley |
| Robert Morgan |
Sr. |
Massillon, Ohio/Washington |
| Ian Muka (HM) |
Jr. |
Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown |
| Saint Francis University |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Hunter Jurica |
Sr. |
Derry, Pa/Derry Area |
| Saint Vincent College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Matt Edwards (2) |
Sr. |
Bedford, Pa./Bedford |
| Owen Dzurko |
Sr. |
Greensburg, Pa. Hempfield |
| Thiel College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Jackson Gadsby (2) |
Jr. |
Sandy Lake, Pa./Lakeview |
| Joe Grundy |
Sr. |
Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown |
| Eli Nicklaus |
Jr. |
Erie, Pa./NW Collegiate Academy |
| Brandon Stubert |
So. |
Greenville, Pa./Greenville |
| Washington & Jefferson College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Aftab Bakshi |
So. |
New Delhi, India/Modern School Barakhamba Road |
| Davis Kittsley |
So. |
Fox Chapel, Pa./Fox Chapel |
| Matthew Morelli (1) |
Jr. |
New Castle, Pa./Neshannock |
| Waynesburg University |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Braden Benke |
Jr. |
Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central |
| Alan Tarolli (HM) |
Jr. |
Washington, Pa./Fort Cherry |
| Westminster College |
| Name |
Yr. |
Hometown/High School |
| Tyler Hager (1) |
Sr. |
Lehighton, Pa./Palmerton |
| Brody Pirt |
So. |
Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley |
| Jaxon Rozanski |
Fr. |
Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln |