Four Bulldogs shoot in 70s as team places fifth

September 23rd, 2020 | Amanda Mendoza

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Concordia University Men’s Golf team put together a solid two-day run in Lawrence, Kan. Four Bulldogs shot in the 70s on Tuesday (Sept. 22) in paving the way to a fifth-place team finish (out of nine squads) at the Ottawa Fall Invitational. The two-round tournament unfolded at Eagle Bend Golf Course, which was conducive to low scoring.

Head Coach Brett Muller’s squad carded a 36-hole total of 304-311–615. Concordia entered the day seven strokes out of first place. It finished 19 strokes behind tournament champion Kansas Wesleyan University.

“We played a lot more consistent in the last two days – a lot more of what we would expect as far as individual and team scores go,” Muller said. “I definitely thought we took a step forward. Drew (D’Ercole) and Jayden (Neal) both finishing in the top 10 was good to see.

“That was our first time (at that course). We practiced on Sunday afternoon and it was definitely a course the guys liked. We’ll look at going down there in the future. It was nice to play with some different guys outside of the GPAC footprint.”

D’Ercole and Neal both either equaled or outperformed their career bests in a single round by shooting 73s on Monday. D’Ercole (73-77–150) and Neal (73-78–151) were neck and neck on the individual leaderboard, which included 64 golfers. D’Ercole placed seventh and Neal 10th. It was the first career top-10 tournament placement for Neal.

Freshman Ivan Yabut just missed the top 10 by carding a two-round score of 75-77–152 (tied for 17th). He was followed in the lineup by Nate Auffet (83-79–162; T-39th) and Landon Walkenhorst (84-84–168; T-51st). Three Bulldogs competed as individuals: Jack Williams (85-79–164; T-44th), Jacob Woodmancy (90-89–179; 59th) and Harrison Helmer (93-95–188; 63rd).

The fall portion of the GPAC Championships are up next. Concordia will be at Indian Creek Golf Course in Elkhorn, Neb., next Monday-Tuesday (Sept. 28-29) for conference action. The Bulldogs placed seventh in the GPAC last season.

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