Samek, Dawgs climb two spots in second round of GPAC championships

By Connor Trexler on Sep. 28, 2019 in Men's Golf

ELKHORN, Neb. – A six-stroke improvement from day one to day two allowed the Concordia University men’s golf team to climb up a couple of notches in the GPAC standings. Two rounds of conference championship action are now in the books. The Bulldogs are currently in seventh place after navigating Indian Creek Golf Couse in Elkhorn, Neb., on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 27-28).

Head coach Brett Muller’s squad has the expectation of moving up significantly from its ninth-place claim in 2018-19. Concordia concluded this fall’s GPAC championship rounds with a total of 336-329–665. Thirty-six additional conference championship holes will be contested in the spring.

Senior Tylar Samek has hopes of finishing his college career with an all-conference honor. He will have a shot at moving into range in the spring. He is currently tied for 20th after carding a score of 80-81–161 over the past two days. Samek and Jack Williams (89-80–169; 38th) were the only two Bulldogs with prior experience competing at the conference championships.

The remainder of Muller’s lineup included freshmen Jay Gunaseelan (82-81–163; T-26th) and Drew D’Ercole (85-87–172; 39th) and sophomore Landon Walkenhorst (101-98–199; 51st). Competitors must complete all four GPAC championship rounds in order to qualify for the final individual leaderboard.

With its seventh-place standing, Concordia is just ahead of Briar Cliff (672), Dordt (685) and Hastings (688). The Bulldogs still have plenty of opportunity to move up with 43 strokes separating them from second place Doane.

One event remains on the fall schedule for Bulldog men’s golf. The team will attempt to claim state bragging rights at the Nebraska Intercollegiate meet slated for Oct. 11-12 at Norfolk Country Club in Norfolk, Neb.