Bulldogs shoot 323 on day one at Siouxland Invite
ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Bulldog men's golf squad closed out day one of the two-day Siouxland Invite with a team score of 323, placing them in a tie for 10th among a field of 17 teams. Of Concordia’s five competitors, sophomore Shawn Rodehorst carded the lowest total on Thursday with a 76, good enough for a tie for 13th place out of 92 individual participants at Landsmeer Golf Course in Orange City, Iowa.
“We really didn’t know where we’d be today with bringing so many inexperienced golfers,” Bulldog head coach Brett Muller said. “We really weren’t worried about what the other teams were doing. We were more concerned about how we played. A 323 was not too bad for our first time out. Certainly our expectation is to do better tomorrow.”
Junior Sam DeFreece came in next with a 78, followed by sophomore Andy Nevius’ 83. Rounding out the Concordia varsity were freshmen Sam Simonson and Brock Coleclasure, who were playing for the first time as collegiate golfers, with scores of 86 and 90, respectively. Muller was happy with the play of his freshmen, who he said calmed down after showing some nervousness in their first nine holes. Four of Concordia’s five golfers improved on their final nine holes of the day.
The Siouxland Invite field is made up of quintets from 10 Great Plains Athletic Conference schools as well as competitors from AIB (Iowa) of the Midwest Collegiate Conference and NCAA Division III Buena Vista (Iowa).
Northwestern (293) holds an eight-stroke team lead over second place AIB, which shot a 301 to close Thursday’s action. The Red Raiders were pushed to the top of the leaderboard on the strength of Neil Malenke’s one-under-par 70. Malenke owns a three-stroke advantage over a trio of golfers tied for second going into the final 18 holes.
The Siouxland Invite will continue on Friday when the field shifts to Sioux Center, Iowa, for the final round of play, which gets started at 9:30 a.m. at The Ridge Golf Club. The Bulldogs will return to Orange City on Sept. 13 for the season’s first GPAC Qualifier event.
