YANKTON, S.D. – A pair of freshmen recorded top-10 finishes in their first meets as Bulldogs as part of the two-day Mount Marty Fall Invite held in Yankton, S.D. A total of 17 players represented the Concordia University golf programs in the event that saw the Bulldogs close action on Friday with team finishes of fourth (men) and 10th (women), respectively.
The lineup scratch of junior Emma Jacoby contributed to a higher team score of 361-414–775 for the women. Meanwhile, the men carded a two-round total of 309-310–619.
“We played five freshmen in our top 10 so we had a lot of young guys getting their first collegiate experience,” Muller said of the men’s team. “We definitely showed our youth a little bit. We had some good moments. It was great to see Tylar Samek come in as a freshman and contribute right away. All in all, I think we played decent for 15-16 holes each day. We just didn’t finish.”
Freshmen Murphy Sears and Tylar Samek acquitted themselves well in their first outings as collegiate golfers. Sears, a Crete native, shot a team low 83 on Thursday before finishing with an 88 on Friday. She tied for ninth place amongst the field of 74 golfers. On the flip side, Samek, who hails from David City, put together back-to-back scores of 76 and finished tied for 10th.
Following Samek, the Concordia men’s top five at the Mount Marty Invite included senior Reid Wiebe (75-79–154), junior Russell Otten (78-77–155), senior Jared Knoepfel (82-78–160) and sophomore Nolan Zikas (80-84–164). Both Wiebe and Zikas earned all-conference accolades a year ago. Ten Bulldog men were part of the field in Yankton.
The tournament field was made up exclusively of GPAC schools. Mount Marty took first in the event on the men’s side.
The Concordia men’s golf team will return to action next Thursday and Friday (Sept. 8-9) for the Siouxland Invite hosted by both Dordt and Northwestern.