PENFIELD, N.Y. – Senior Will Karkoc closed out his Bethel men's golf career as the national runner-up at the NCAA Championships. Karkoc, who led after rounds one and two, finished the 72-hole event one stroke back of the title, carding a seven-under-par 281.
 
He finished just like he started with a four-under par 68 in the final round, which was broken up between Thursday and Friday due to weather conditions. In round three on Thursday, he carded a three-over-par 75.
 
It came down to the 18th hole in round four, where he held a one-stroke advantage after a birdie on the par-five 17th green. His tee shot on the par-three 18 found the bunker before carding a double-bogey.
 
He sat in third place after round three on Thursday when projected weather forced the field to begin the final round on the same day. Playing all the way up to darkness, he got 10 holes in and sat at six-under-par which was tied for second. On 11 Friday morning, he birdied to sit back in a tie for first before inclement weather forced a halt in play.
 
Upon resumption of play, he carded par on holes 12, 13, 14 before a birdie on the par-four 15th put him back in a tie Lynchburg's Edward Coffren who birdied 18 at the time.
 
Karkoc led the field in par-four scoring, where he was five-under for the tournament and led the field of 225 individuals with 20 birdies.
 
This was his second NCAA Championship appearance after the Royals qualified as a team in 2023-24. He carded a 289 (+1) and tied for 30th as the Royals finished 16th that year.
 
He finishes the season with a 72.4 scoring average in 31 rounds of golf, which ranks as the second-best in program history.