ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Concordia University men’s golf team wrapped up its second two-day tournament on Tuesday (Sept. 10) while navigating the course at Landsmeer Golf Club in Orange City, Iowa. The first round of action took place at The Ridge in Sioux Center, Iowa. A season low total on Tuesday bumped the Bulldogs into a tie for seventh place out of 14 teams.
Spurred by senior Tylar Samek and freshman Jayveenrahj Gunaseelan at the top of the lineup, head coach Brett Muller’s squad carded a 36-hole score of 314-303–617.
“Making the switch from The Ridge to Landsmeer today we knew the course set up similar to Highlands (home course),” Muller said. “It was an absolutely perfect day to play, minimal wind. As a team we didn’t get off to the best start on the front nine. I’m really proud of the way the guys battled back on the back nine. The highlight of the day was probably Tylar Samek making four birdies in a row on the back nine to get himself under par at the time.”
Concordia is getting closer to the type of team Muller envisions for his program. Samek, Gunaseelan and sophomore Jack Williams each shot rounds in the 70s on both days of the tournament. Samek and Gunaseelan shared 22nd place (out of 81 golfers) with identical scores of 76-73–149. Meanwhile, Williams enjoyed his best tournament as a Bulldog while turning in a two-round total of 79-74–153.
The five-member lineup was rounded out by freshman Drew D’Ercole (83-83–166; T-62nd) and junior Jayden Neal (83-86–169; T-64th). Three others represented Concordia as individuals: junior Harrison Helmer (81-83–164; 58th), sophomore Landon Walkenhorst (84-81–165; T-59th) and freshman Tyler Bartels (88-84–172; 68th).
“It was good to see that out of Jack and Jay played very solid both days as well,” Muller said. “Jay made an eagle on 10 and had another birdie on the back. It’s good to see him compete in the top of our lineup.”
Over four team rounds, Concordia has turned in respective scores of 316, 307, 314 and 303. In other words, the Siouxland Invite represented a step in the right direction as compared to last week’s Blue River Classic performance.
Next up for Bulldog men’s golf is the GPAC Golf Preview coming up Monday, Sept. 23 at Indian Creek Golf Course in Omaha. That event will be a precursor to the two fall rounds of GPAC Championships (Sept. 27-28).