ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Each of the Concordia University men’s golf team’s top five players shot 75 or better in the second and final round of the Siouxland Invite co-hosted by Dordt and Northwestern. The two-day event played out Thursday and Friday at the Ridge in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Landsmeer Golf Club in Orange City, Iowa. The Bulldogs turned in a two-day score of 299-293–592, pushing them from fourth to third place on the final team leaderboard.
The Siouxland Invite marked the second two-day event of the fall season for seventh-year head coach Brett Muller’s squad. The Bulldogs improved their score by 22 strokes as compared to last week’s Midland Fall Invite.
“I am very proud of the way our guys competed and finished the round,” Muller said. “Yesterday we a had a great round going after 15-16 holes and gave away too many strokes late in the round. Today our goal was to finish the round. This tournament was great for our confidence as a team and is a glimpse of how good we can be. Kort (Steele) played solid all day and turned an even par round.”
A freshman from North Platte, Neb., Steele and sophomore Tylar Samek equaled a team low of 72 at Landsmeer. Overall, junior Nolan Zikas paced Concordia with his score of 71-74–145, good for eighth place. Samek (74-72–146) was hot on Zikas’ heels and placed in a tie for 10th. In his second career tournament, Steele (78-72–150) finished 22nd. Rounding out the lineup were seniors Tyler Ehresman (76-75–151; T-23rd) and Russell Otten (79-75–154; T-29th)
Another three Bulldogs competed as individuals: junior Grant Suchanek (84-91–175) and freshmen Harrison Helmer (89-83–172) and Jayden Neal (93-92–185).
The Bulldogs will take a break from tournament play until co-hosting the Blue River Classic with Doane on Sept. 19-20. The first round will be held at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln before shifting to Concordia’s home course, Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, for day two of the event. The Blue River Classic will be the team’s final tune up before the GPAC Fall Championships on Oct. 2-3.