LINCOLN, Neb. – While shooting a solid team score of 288 in the third and final round of the 2022 Blue River Classic on Wednesday (Sept. 7), the Concordia University Men’s Golf ‘A’ team remained in fifth place overall. The Bulldogs co-hosted the tournament along with Doane and welcomed 75 golfers from nine institutions to Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, Neb. Individually, Grant, Neb., native Jacob Woodmancy put together the finest tournament of his career and earned a fifth-place medal.
Head Coach Brett Muller’s top grouping shot a 54-hole score of 296-290-288–874 on its home course. In addition, the Concordia ‘B’ team, led by Woodmancy, shot a 304-294-296–894 and placed sixth. Fourteen individuals represented the Bulldogs at the event.
“We had some very good GPAC schools here at our home invite,” Muller said. “We’re seeing how much it matters to finish a round and how that can really affect the standings. With about four holes left, we were seven-under-par as a team, in fourth place at the time and just two shots out of second place. We just struggled to finish the tournament and ended up dropping to fifth. In previous years we would be very excited about the scores we’ve been shooting so far this fall, but we have high expectations for ourselves, so this one hurts a little bit.”
There was no disappointment for Woodmancy who shot a career low round of 68 to open up the Blue River Classic. He finished at six-under-par (68-71-71–210) and was six strokes behind the tournament individual champion. Two other Bulldogs placed inside the top 20: Ivan Yabut (75-74-69–218) in a tie for 14th and Drew D’Ercole (74-70-76–220) at 20th. The team’s No. 1 player in 2021-22, Yabut carded a team low round of three-under-par 69 on Wednesday.
Woodmancy was just one stroke away from being the top GPAC golfer in the field at the Blue River Classic. He made a loud statement this week. Said Muller, “Jacob Woodmancy had an incredible tournament. He’s always been a guy who’s capable of making some birdies but the number of birdies he’s made in the three rounds of the tournament was awesome. He avoided the big numbers and had a very good two days of golf.”
Following Yabut and D’Ercole on the ‘A’ grouping were Jake Hagerbaumer (75-73-73–221; T-21st), Jake Richmond (74-73-78–225; T-26th) and Justin Webert (73-84-70–227; T-32nd). It was also a nice run for Gavin McWhorter, who carded an even-par 72 on Wednesday and placed 26th overall. As a team, the Bulldogs placed behind Iowa Western Community College (836), Doane (861), Hastings (868) and Northwestern (874).
Through five rounds this fall, Concordia’s team scoring average stands at 288.2, a figure that would shatter the school record of 305.1 set by the 2021-22 team. Six Bulldogs are averaging 18-hole scores below 75, led by the 71.8 of Drew D’Ercole.
Concordia individual scores – Blue River Classic (Sept. 6-7)
Jacob Woodmancy: 68-71-71–210 (5th)
Ivan Yabut: 75-74-69–218 (T-14th)
Drew D’Ercole: 74-70-76–220 (20th)
Jake Hagerbaumer: 75-73-73–221 (T-21st)
Gavin McWhorter: 78-75-72–225 (T-26th)
Jake Richmond: 74-73-78–225 (T-26th)
Justin Webert: 73-84-70–227 (T-32nd)
Brock Rogers: 76-73-80–229 (T-36th)
Josh D’Ercole: 82-75-75–232 (T-43rd)
Tyler Bartels: 81-76-80–237 (55th)
Taylor Johnson: 83-78-78–239 (T-58th)
Jaxson Fullerton: 83-80-76–239 (T-58th)
Gavin Buttshaw: 77-78-86–241 (T-60th)
Jonas Sommerville: 90-79-86–255 (T-69th)
The Bulldogs will return to action next Monday and Tuesday (Sept.12-13) for the Siouxland Invite co-hosted by Dordt and Northwestern. This event will also feature 54 holes and will have two different locations: The Ridge Golf Club in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Landsmeer Golf Club in Orange City, Iowa.