WHEELING, W.Va. - Webster University senior Will Hocker (Grapevine, Texas/University Oklahoma) made history here Friday afternoon as the 2020 PING Division III All-American shot an even-par 71 in Friday's final round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships at Oglebay Resort and Conference Center to win the individual National Championship.

With his national championship, Hocker becomes the first Webster student-athlete to win an individual National Championship and just the third student-athlete in the history of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to earn an individual national championship as he joins Principia's Corey Carter, who won the 200-meter dash in outdoor track in 2019 and Greenville's Andrew Sharp, who won the 800-meters in outdoor track in 2018.

Hocker finished the championships by shooting a 2-over par score of 285 for 72 holes to win the national title by two shots over Christopher Newport's Robb Kinder and Methodist's Cooper Hrabak, who each carded 4-over par scores of 287 for 72 holes. In addition to his even-par 71 in Friday's final round, Hocker carded a 1-under 69 in the first round, a 1-over 72 in the second round and a 2-over 73 in the third round. 
 
"The feeling of being a national champion hasn't even set in. I am just most thankful for my family, teammates and coaches," Hocker said. 

In Friday's final round, Hocker began his round on the 10th hole of the Spiedel Jones Course and he proceeded to open the round by scoring bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes, before scoring six consecutive pars to finish the first nine holes at 2-over par 37. On his 10th hole of the day, Hocker scored a bogey to push his score to 3-over par on the day and moved to 4-over on the day after a bogey on No. 4. That bogey pushed Hocker sixth place on the leaderboard. 

That bogey, though, seemed to ignite a fire into Hocker as he carded an eagle on the par-5 No. 5 hole to push his score to 4-over par and put him into a tie for fourth place. Following the eagle, Hocker would card birdies on the sixth and seventh holes and that birdie on the 7th hole pushed Hocker back into a first place. He would then conclude the round by scoring pars on the eighth and ninth holes to cap his championship win.

"I knew I was down going into the last five holes as I had made a bogey on the hole before, but in the fairway of the par-5 (No. 5 hole), I told myself this could be my defining moment and hit a really good 5-iron onto the green. I then made the long putt and from then on I knew it was my championship to win," said Hocker about his play over the final five holes. "I didn't know I had won the title until I tapped in my putt on the last hole and (interim) coach (Matt) Gordon told me."

Hocker's medalist national championship was the third event that Hocker won during the 2021 spring season as he opened this season by winning medalist honors at the season opening Big Blue Spring Opener hosted by Millikin University and he won medalist honors at the Rhodes College Spring Classic. 
 
"Will played solid all season. Coming into nationals, he had a goal to hoist the trophy up at the end and after he made the eagle on the par-5, 5th hole (our 14th hole of the final round), you could tell he was about do something spectacular," Webster interim head coach Matt Gordon said. "He told himself in the fairway of that hole that was going to be the defining moment and it absolutely was. He went on to birdie the 6th and 7th holes and was just feeling it those last five holes finishing 4-under par through them. When we were walking down the 18th hole, he said that he didn't want to know where he stood on the leaderboard and that he was happy with himself on how he played and grinded all week. When he made that final putt of the tournament, he came to me and asked where I stood and I told him that he just became a national champion."

Gordon said that this week was special for himself and for the Webster men's golf program and will always be remembered. 

"This week was something so special and something that we will never forget. All these guys have been through a lot this year and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end with our guys finishing 15th  in the country and Will (Hocker) winning a national championship," the Webster coach said. "I am just so happy for Will. He's been rock solid all season and has put in so much work to finish the way he did. This is something that he will remembers and cherish forever."

While Hocker took home the individual national championship after winning medalist honors on Friday, Illinois Wesleyan repeated as the Division III team champion as they tallied a 23-over par team score of 1,155 for 72 holes to win take home its second straight title by 13 shots over Methodist, who shot a 1,168 (+36) for 72 holes and Guilford finished third with a 47-over par 1,179 for 72 holes. In the final round, Illinois Wesleyan shot a 292, while Methodist fired a 290, which was the best score of the round and Guilford shot a 296. 

Webster, who made the cut to the final 18 for the second time in program history this year, finished the championships with a program best finish as they were tied for 15th with St. John's (Minn.) after carding a 72-hole team score of 1,218 (+86). The tie for 15th place bettered Webster's previous best finish in the championships of 17th place in 2017. 

"The two courses we played were very challenging and it could have gone the opposite direction if these guys wouldn't have fought for every shot. I'm just so proud of these guys and how they battled all week," Gordon added. "It was a long week with a lot of ups and downs, but these guys kept with it and ended up doing something special. At the beginning of the season, it was our goal to beat what we did as a team in 2017 and I'm so happy that they were able to accomplish that goal in the end."

Gordon was a member of Webster's team that made the cut at the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships and finished in 17th place. 

For the four day tournament, Hocker was tied for the lead in par-4 scoring as he played the Ogleby Courses par-4 holes at 4.02 (+1) and averaged 4.77 (-3) on the par-5 holes. In addition, Hocker was tied for fourth in birdies for the tournament with 13 and was one of seven golfers in the field to record an eagle on a hole. 

In addition to Hocker's first place finish, the Gorloks No. 2 finisher at the D-III National Championships was senior Cole Pickett (Greenville, Ill./Keiser University) as he carded a final round score of five-over par 76 to finish with a 23-over par 306 for 72 holes and finish in a tie for 62nd place. Pickett improved his score in each round, before taking a step back in Friday's final round. He opened the tournament with a 78, before carding a 77 in the second round, a 75 in the third round before his 76 on Friday. 

The third finisher for the Gorloks was fifth-year senior Zac Ciesla (Lake Charles, La./Alfred M. Barbe) as he totaled a 29-over par 312 to finish in 86th place. Ciesla, who was playing in his fourth NCAA Championship as a Gorlok this season, fired rounds of 72, 78, 82 and then tallied a final round 80. 

Senior Mitchell Vetter (Colleyville, Texas/Grapevine) placed 90th overall with a 72-hole total score of 315 as he tallied a final round of 78. It was his second round of the week under 80 as he carded a 76 in the second round and also scored an 80 and 81 in the first and third rounds respectively. 

The final competitor for the Gorloks was freshman Justin McCoy (Savoy, Ill./Champaign Central) as the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Golfer of the Year and the SLIAC individual medalist tallied a 330 overall for 72 holes to finish in 94th place. McCoy fired a 10-over par 81 in the final round and that followed his rounds of 81, 80 and 88 respectively for the week. 

"Our guys are very thankful for the opportunity to be able to compete this season with everything going on in the world," the interim Webster coach said. "We have the best support system with our university and our parents. We owe them a lot and are very thankful for everything that they have done. In addition, I want to give a big shout out to Coach (Will) Murphy. He dedicated a lot of time to his position and really helped this program so much this year and we are grateful to have him."

Gordon says that next year's team will feature a lot of returning players from this season, including the expected return of Hocker and that this performance this season is something to build off of.

"We have a lot guys returning and a good group of guys coming in next season that I believe we can build on this for years to come. It is very exciting times for Webster Golf," added the coach.