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Season Preview: 2022-23 Concordia Men's Golf

By Jacob Knabel on Aug. 20, 2022 in Men's Golf

Head Coach: Brett Muller (12th year)
2021-22 GPAC Finish: 6th (298-308-313–919)
Key Returners: Drew D’Ercole; Jake Hagerbaumer; Gavin McWhorter; Justin Webert; Jacob Woodmancy; Ivan Yabut.
Key Loss: Jack Williams.
2021-22 GPAC All-Conference: Ivan Yabut (5th place); Drew D’Ercole (Honorable Mention).

Outlook

The roster shapes up nicely for a Concordia University Men’s Golf program that broke the school record for season scoring average in 2021-22 and brings back all five golfers who played at this past spring’s GPAC Championships. At the top of the lineup, Ivan Yabut and Drew D’Ercole aspire to compete with the very best of the GPAC. In team qualifying rounds this preseason, Yabut has played at a level that would put him in the running for an individual conference championship.

In other words, Brett Muller has high expectations as he enters his 12th season as head coach. The Bulldogs placed sixth in the GPAC last season, but they know the pieces are in place for a potential move up the ladder.

Says Muller, “Of the five guys who competed at the GPAC Championship, all five are back. We were able to bring in a couple really solid freshmen that are making a push and the returners have done a great job of improving and putting in the time over the summer. Looking at our qualifying rounds, this is the deepest team we’ve had on the men’s side. That’s only going to help us down the road. I think our practices are going to be much more competitive because every day guys are going to be competing for spots in the top five.”

Members of the team arrived on campus a week prior to the start of classes for a series of qualifying rounds that will help determine who competes at the season’s first tournaments. In addition to D’Ercole and Yabut, the likes of Jake Hagerbaumer, Justin Webert and Jacob Woodmancy also played at the 2022 spring GPAC Championships. Both Hagerbaumer and Webert came onto the scene as freshmen in 2021-22 and gave the Bulldogs a lift. This year’s class of freshmen includes Jake Richmond, Brock Rogers and Jonas Sommerville.

Muller would love to see everyone improve the way that the Burke High School alum Yabut did from 2020-21 to 2021-22 when he shaved his scoring average down from 80.0 to 74.9. Last September, Yabut found a groove while shooting a school record single round with a seven-under-par 65 at the Siouxland Invite. Yabut went on to record the best ever GPAC finish by a Concordia men’s golfer when he placed fifth in the conference.

“Ivan’s a guy who makes quite a few birdies,” Muller said. “For him it’s about staying away from the double bogeys and worse. He’s had a great fall qualifying – I think he’s averaging about six birdies a round. All four of his rounds have been in the 60s. He has big aspirations for this year and has his eye on winning the conference as an individual.”

If Yabut does happen to have an off round, he has teammates who can help pick up the slack. Drew D’Ercole has earned two Honorable Mention All-GPAC awards in his career and placed inside the top 10 of three tournaments last season. The top five returners each averaged scores in the 70s last season: Yabut (74.9), D’Ercole (75.8), Webert (77.1), Hagerbaumer (78.7) and Woodmancy (79.9). With that kind of depth, Yabut believes this team can crush the 2021-22 team’s school record scoring average of 305.1

“I feel like we have a really solid team this year, one through five and six through 10,” Yabut said. “I feel like we can shatter the average scoring record again. Hopefully we can win a tournament as a team and win the conference tournament and go to nationals.”

Added Yabut the friendly rivalry with D’Ercole at the top of the lineup, “It makes me work harder and I’m sure I make him work harder as well. I feel like we have a healthy relationship where we want to push each other and want each other to do their best.”

The fall slate includes a total of five tournaments. Muller will hold back his top five from the Mount Marty Invite coming up Aug. 25-26. The ‘A’ grouping will get the season started at the UC Ferguson Classic on Aug. 29-30. Concordia will also host the Blue River Invite on Sept. 6-7 and will welcome alumni to Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 10. Says Muller of the alumni event, “It’s a great way to connect our current roster with some of the alumni. I think it will be a really fun day at Highlands.”

As a change from previous years, the entirety of the GPAC Men’s Golf Championship will be played in the spring (instead of being split between the fall and spring). Fifty-four holes of conference championship action will be contested at Beatrice Country Club in Beatrice, Neb., April 24-25, 2023.