Declan Hickton has spent the spring carving up golf courses. Before the month of May reaches its midpoint, he may have a chance to add to the intercollegiate golf history at the University of Rochester.
 
Hickton has been selected to compete as an individual at the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships. The event will be conducted at Oglebay in Wheeling, West Virginia from May 11-14. It is a four-day 72-hole tournament.
 
He is one of six individuals chosen for the tournament. The other individuals come from Pfeiffer, LaGrange, McMurry, Gustavus-Adolphus, and Washington & Lee.
 
The NCAA Golf Committee selected a 37-team field. It is comprised of 30 teams in Pool A (conference champions), four teams in Pool B (teams that do not compete in a conference with an automatic bid), and three from Pool C (conference members who did not win their conference title plus the remainder of Pool B teams).
 
RPI won the Liberty League tournament this past weekend to secure the league's Pool A bid. Rochester played strongly on Sunday in the second round, shooting a 286 on day two, to finish in second place. UR is also a member of the University Athletic Association in golf. The UAA typically holds its tournament in late February in Florida. Due to the pandemic, the entire UAA schedule was cancelled this year. Two UAA teams – Emory and Carnegie Mellon – were selected as Pool B entries to travel to West Virginia.

 
A total of 191 golfers will descend on Oglebay next week – 37 teams of five golfers apiece and six individuals. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to 18 teams plus six individuals who are not playing for one of the top 18 teams, i.e. a golfer playing for a team that sits in 23^rd place after two days could shoot a low-enough round to compete as an individual on days three and four.
 
Rochester has a wonderful golf history. The institution has been represented on either a team or individual basis 29 times, dating back to 1949. This is the seventh time an individual has qualified for the championships: 1958, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2021. In 2006, Stephen Goodridge won the NCAA Division III National Championship by two strokes in Lincoln, Nebraska. Goodridge and Greg Perry (who played in the early 1980s) earned First Team All-America honors twice apiece. The Yellowjacket golf program has earned a total of 26 All-America honors.
 
UR has competed as a team 23 times with the initial appearance in 1949. From 1982 to 1996, the Yellowjackets were a Division III stronghold making 15 consecutive team appearances. Rochester hosted the 1985 Division III Golf Championships at Monroe Golf Club. UR finished seventh of 19 teams. The best team finish came eight years later in 1993 when the Yellowjackets finished sixth of 22 teams in San Diego, CA.
 
Hickton has enjoyed a strong year on the links. He has been the medalist three times in Rochester's five competitions. In nine rounds, he has averaged 72.22 strokes. He finished in the top five in each of the five meets. His highest round was a 76 (it was a 36-hole event) and he was the only golfer among the 19 participants not to shoot an 80 on one of the two rounds. His low round for the spring came on his first competition – the St. John Fisher Midvale Invitational. He fired a 69-71 (four under) to claim the medal. He was one-under 142 (71-71) at Rochester's Fred B. Kravetz Invitational. That tournament is played on two area courses – the Irondequoit CC (par 72) and Oak Hill Country Club's West Course (Par 71). His record against all opponents this year is 134-4. He finished third in both the Liberty League Preview competition as well as the Liberty League championships held a week later.
 
A mechanical engineering major, Hickton is a native of Pittsburgh, PA and an alumnus of Sewickley Academic. In the fall, he was selected as a Lysle "Spike" Garnish Scholar, an award presented to the top 10 senior student-athletes. It is for a combination of athletic skill, academic achievement, and community involvement. Hickton did an internship in the Kennedy Space Center