Lake Forest College's Brian Bruha was named Midwest Conference Men's Golf Coach of the Year on Saturday after leading his team to a tied-for-second place finish at the 2016 MWC Championship Tournament.
The Foresters, who were seventh at the 2015 MWC Championships during their first season as a varsity sport since 1970, improved by 43 strokes this year. Their three-day score of 960 was tied with Monmouth College and 39 shots behind league champion Carroll University. St. Norbert College, which claimed the title last year, was fourth at 965 and Grinnell College placed sixth with a score of 978. Illinois College (999), Lawrence University (1,026), and Knox College (1,036) rounded out the field.
The event was held at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Illinois. The par-72 course covers 6,615 yards.
Lake Forest also had a pair of individual players leave with some hardware. Sophomore Davis DeKorte and freshman Parker Hill finished tied-for-fifth in the 46-player field to become the first All-MWC honorees in program history. Hill's 80 on Saturday was tied for the sixth-best round of the day. He also had an 80 on Thursday before recording a 78 on Friday. DeKorte was second in the field after carding a 73 in his opening round and added a 79 on Friday and an 8-6 on Saturday.
Forester freshman Elijah Collins was just one stroke away from joining DeKorte and Hill as all-conference selections. His final score of 242 (78-80-84) ranked him 13th in the field. Fellow freshman Ricky Schmidt was next on the team and tied-for-19th overall at 244 (81-78-85).
Sophomore Durham Ghelfi posted one of the team's top four rounds on Saturday with an 84 and finished with a three-day score of 252, two shots ahead of classmate Jacob Soyka. They placed 30th and 31st, respectively, in the league.
After rapidly climbing the conference standings, the Foresters will not lose anyone to graduation before next season.