Men's golf shoots two-round 634 in opening tournament of spring

By Jacob Knabel on Apr. 3, 2016 in Men's Golf

NEWTON, Kan. – The Concordia University men’s golf team cut two strokes off its total as compared to day one in Sunday’s round of the Bethel College Spring Invitational. After carding a 318 at Hesston Golf Course in Hesston, Kan., on Saturday, the Bulldogs turned in a 316 at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kan., on Sunday. The two-round total of 634 placed Concordia 13th among the 22 teams in the field.

Fifth-year head coach Brett Muller took two teams of five guys each to the weekend event. Among them, junior Reid Wiebe placed the highest. He finished in a tie for 33rd out of 119 golfers by shooting 10 over par (77-76–153). Wiebe’s 76 on Sunday helped the Bulldogs move up four spots in the standings.

“We played better today on a tougher course in tougher conditions,” Muller said. “It was nice to see that after not playing as well as we’d like to yesterday. We definitely have some stuff to work on this weekend in practice. We’ll play a practice round at Firethorn (Country Club in Lincoln) on Sunday and hopefully be ready Monday (April 11).”

Freshman Nolan Zikas came in next in line after Wiebe with a two-round score of 80-78–158, good for a top-50 finish. Rounding out the top five performers for the Bulldogs were senior Sam Simonson 78-81–159, sophomore Russell Otten (79-81–160) and junior Jared Knoepfel (82-81–163). Simonson was the highest finisher for Concordia’s ‘B’ team, which placed 21st (328-341–669).

Currently in ninth place in the conference (312-316–628), the Bulldogs will attempt to make a move up the standings when they compete at GPAC Qualifier No. 3 at Firethorn on Monday, April 11. The event gets started at 12 p.m. The team’s top-ranked GPAC individuals are sophomores Tyler Ehresman (73-80–153) and Otten (76-77–153). They are tied for 19th in the conference.