SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Men’s Golf program hopes to carry this season’s improvement into next week’s conference championships. The fall portion of the GPAC Men’s Golf Championship will be held next Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 27-28) at Indian Creek Golf Course in Elkhorn, Neb. The first tee time for the Bulldogs in round one is set for 10 a.m. CT.
Head Coach Brett Muller’s squad is coming off a ninth-place conference finish last season. Concordia carded a four-round conference total of 342-330-315-321–1,308 in 2020-21. Indian Creek was also the site last season’s first two GPAC rounds.
The Bulldogs have proven capable of making a leap forward in the conference. So far this season, the Concordia varsity grouping has averaged a team score of 295.8 (as compared to 319.4 the previous year). Through three events (six rounds) this fall, Drew D’Ercole and Ivan Yabut are deadlocked for the team best scoring average (72.5). D’Ercole earned top 10 tournament finishes at the Mount Marty Invite (third) and the Blue River Classic (seventh). In the team’s most recent outing at the Siouxland Invite, Yabut stole the show by carding a school record low round of seven-under-par 65. He wound up placing fifth overall.
Following D’Ercole and Yabut, there has been plenty of competition for the Nos. 3 through 5 spots in the lineup. The overall depth within the program is greater than ever before. A freshman from Lincoln, Justin Webert placed top 10 at the Mount Marty Invite and ranks third on the team with a scoring average of 75.8. Five additional Bulldogs boast season averages south of 80. Collectively, Concordia golfers have combined to shoot 42 rounds of 79 or lower through the season’s first three tournaments.
Morningside is the reigning GPAC champion and the conference favorite entering the meet. The Bulldogs hope to be more in line with (or even surpass) where they landed in 2017-18 when standout Nolan Zikas led them to a fifth-place conference finish. D’Ercole was recognized as an Honorable Mention All-GPAC award winner last season. Considering the results so far this season, D’Ercole and Yabut are strong contenders for all-conference recognition in 2021-22.
Pairings and tee times for round two (Sept. 28) of the GPAC Championships will be based off the scores from round one. Rounds three and four of GPAC men’s golf will be staged at The Bluffs Golf Course in Vermillion, S.D., in the spring of 2022.
The GPAC will offer live scoring for the tournament via https://www.golfgenius.com/. The tournament’s live results can be accessed by using the Golf Genius ID of 2122MGPAC.