LINCOLN, Neb. – Though the day may have not ended as strong as the Concordia University men’s golf team had started, it still put itself in solid position heading into day two of the Blue River Classic, co-hosted by the Bulldogs and rival Doane. Concordia shot a 305 on Tuesday with four of five players carding scores in the 70s.
Head coach Brett Muller’s squad outshot co-host Doane by a single stroke. Going into round two, Southeast Community College (297) is the leader with GPAC squads Midland (300) and Morningside (303) coming in next.
“We had a lot of guys in position with about five holes left to finish off a pretty solid day,” Muller said. “We gave some strokes away late in the round. I know our guys are hungry to play our home course tomorrow. Being eight shots back of the lead it will be tough, but it’s still our goal to win our own invitational.”
Sophomore Nolan Zikas shot a 73 on Tuesday and stands just one stroke off leaders Kean Kontor (Southeast) and Zach Ward (Midland) atop the individual leaderboard. Bulldog freshman Tylar Samek is right on Zikas’ heels after carding a 74. The rest of Concordia’s ‘A’ team included seniors Reid Wiebe (79) and Jared Knoepfel (79) and junior Russell Otten (85). The second grouping of Bulldogs was led by Tyler Ehresman, who carded an 84.
Muller’s program now gets set to stage round two at Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln. Tee time is set for 9 a.m. from Concordia’s home course. It will mark the first time ever that Bulldog men’s golf has hosted an event at Highlands.