Five Bulldogs card 70s on day one of Palace City Invite

By on Sep. 12, 2014 in Men's Golf

Five Bulldogs card 70s on day one of Palace City Invite

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Concordia University men’s golf squad flashed a deep and balanced roster on day one of two at the Palace City Invite, hosted at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell, S.D., on Friday. Five different Bulldogs carded scores in the 70s, including three individuals on head coach Brett Muller’s second grouping. Once again, senior Shawn Rodehorst led the way as he posted a one-under-par 71, putting him in a tie for first.

As a team, Concordia’s first grouping sits in a tie for 10th place with a 308. Not far behind, the second Bulldog team shot a 313 and will enter day two in 15th place. The tournament field includes 16 teams and 90 individuals.

“You can’t do it, but if we were able to just take our top four from today we would have been right at 300,” Muller said. “I was very pleased with our second group. That just shows the depth of the program. We’re definitely improving and getting better depth. It was great to see that many guys play well.”

Rodehorst came in just two strokes off his career low of 69 on day one of last week’s season-opening Siouxland Invite. The Kearney native’s big Friday was spurred by six birdies, including two that came on par fives to close the round. He cleaned up on par fives by going four under on such holes.

“Shawn played solid all day,” Muller said. “Playing in a shotgun start, everyone starts their round on a different hole so everyone has a little different round. He and Reid (Wiebe) both started with two par threes and both finished with two par fives and took advantage of it.”

Wiebe, who equaled the 75.0 average he recorded in his two rounds at the Siouxland meet, came next in line after Rodehorst. The rest of the Bulldog ‘A’ team included three freshmen: Russell Otten (80), Tyler Ehresman (82) and Payton DeVencenty (83).

“Reid quadruple-bogeyed on his seventh hole,” Muller said. “He did a great job bouncing back and weathering the storm. He finished strong with an eagle on his final hole.”

The second wave of Bulldogs actually produced more scores in the 70s with juniors Matt Otten and Brock Colclasure both turning in 77s. Fellow junior Garrett Suchanek followed them closely with his 79. Junior Sam Simonson (80) and sophomore Grant Worthington (87) rounded out the rest of Muller’s lineup.

The Bulldogs remain in Mitchell on Saturday for the second and final round of the Palace City Invite. All participants will tee off at 10 a.m. in a shotgun start from Wild Oak Golf Course, the site of GPAC Qualifier No. 1 on Sept. 19.

“With a solid round we can definitely pass some teams,” Muller said. “We switch courses to Wild Oak which will give us a chance to get prepared for GPAC No. 1.”