Lakers, Oilers Lead After Two Rounds of 2025 Folds of Honor Challenge
ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State men and Findlay women lead the 2025 Folds of Honor Challenge after 36 holes at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.
The morning wave saw what was an 18-hole men’s lead of nine shrink to one through 15 holes before clutch birdies on the 16th hole from Bryce Wheeler and Charlie Cooley helped bump Grand Valley State’s lead back up to five heading into Wednesday’s final round.
“Today wasn’t our best stuff, but we are still in a good place going into tomorrow,” Head Coach Gareth Lappin said. “Everything is still to play for. I am excited for tomorrow and hope to see our guys respond with good attitudes and enjoy the opportunity to play with good opponents.”
Cooley (E; 69-73; T2), Wheeler (E; 70-72; T2), individual Andrew Gwilliams (E; 71-71; T2), individual Murphy Kehoe (+1; 71-72; T6), Manuel Cue Vargas (+1; 72-71; T6); and Maverick Conaway (+3; 72-73; T14) are inside the top 15 individually for the Lakers.
Wayne State (MI) carded 19 birdies, 15 from counting scores, and two eagles on Tuesday for a tournament-best three-under 281 to move into a tie for second with Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Warriors and Bulldogs were the only two teams across both fields with under-par second rounds.
Mississippi Gulf Coast freshman Jayden Owensby used seven birdies, including on three of his first four holes and two of his final five, during his four-under 67 to leapfrog the individual leaderboard by four heading into Wednesday’s final round.
“I got off the tee okay and kept it in play,” said the Hernando, Mississippi native. “I hit a couple of good iron shots, made a couple long putts, and it really came down to the putter.”
“We’ve got to go finish it tomorrow,” Owensby continued. “I’m really enjoying being out here. The northern weather is really nice and cool compared to home. It’s really good.”
The Findlay women recorded a three-over 287 in the afternoon that included 12 birdies from counting scores to catapult their team lead to 28 strokes. Senior Ellie Yeazell led the Oilers with two of those birdies and eagles on the par-5 4th, 9th, and 14th holes for a three-under 68 to lead individually by two over teammate and 18-hole leader Ashleigh Duflo.
“We started off really good, making two birdies on the first hole,” Head Coach Dominic Guarnieri said. “We had a couple of little hiccups here and there, but the one thing we always preach is that bogey or worse score, we can compete with anybody. We didn’t have any score count today that was worse than a bogey. That was huge.”
“And then obviously what Ellie did, eagling the three par-5s,” Guarnieri continued. “Remarkable, shooting 68 with five bogeys. Another solid day. I told the team that the tournament is two-thirds of the way over. We’re going to do the same thing tomorrow, add it up at the end, and see where we’re at. We don’t really think about that until we step off the 54th hole.”
Yeazell, Duflo, Hayley Dye (+1; 71-72; T4), and Gracie James (+5; 73-74; T9) are inside the top 20 individually for the Oilers.
The final round of the 2025 Folds of Honor Challenge will begin Tuesday at 8:00 am ET for the women and 12:20 pm ET for the men. Follow this men’s link and women’s link for live scoring.
About Folds of Honor
Folds of Honor is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of US military service members and first responders who have fallen or been disabled while serving our country and communities. Our educational scholarships support private school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12, tuition for college, technical or trade school and post-graduate work, including a master’s degree, doctorate, or professional program. Funds for a second bachelor’s degree or trade/technical program certification are also available. Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 62,000 scholarships totaling about $290 million in all 50 states. Among the students served, 45 percent are minorities. A total of 91 percent of expenses fund our mission of providing educational scholarships to the families of our nation’s heroes. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum on Candid. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, the only-ever F-16 fighter pilot (with three combat tours in Iraq) and PGA Professional. He is serving as Commander of Recruiting for the Oklahoma Air Guard. For more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship visit foldsofhonor.org.
About The Meadows at Grand Valley State University
The Meadows has been the host of nine NCAA National Championships, including the NCAA Division II Women's National Championships in 1996, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2011, and 2015, as well as NCAA Division II Men's National Championship in 2001, 2007, and 2014. Please visit www.gvsu.edu/meadows for more information.
About the Golf Coaches Association of America
Established in 1958, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is the professional organization of men's collegiate golf coaches. The GCAA's mission is to support its member coaches from six divisions, including the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA, by creating educational opportunities, providing resources, and promoting its members with the purpose of enhancing their overall performance as coaches, mentors, and teachers. The GCAA also recognizes the excellence and achievements of its members and their student-athletes in academic, athletic and civic endeavors.