COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Entering the final round of the 2020-21 GPAC Championship tournament, the Concordia University Women’s Golf team had a shot at finishing as high as second place. The Bulldogs ultimately landed in third after carding a team total of 339 at Bent Tree Golf Club in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Saturday (April 24). Concordia had passed up Dakota Wesleyan in Friday’s round and remained in front of the Tigers and eight other GPAC opponents.
Head Coach Brett Muller has led the program to back-to-back third-place GPAC finishes. Led once again by Seward High School alum Kendra Placke, the Bulldogs carded a four-round conference score of 368-359-327-339–1,393 while wrapping up the season.
“For us to finish in third place, all-in-all, we have to be pretty happy with that,” Muller said. “We were able to move up this weekend to third, which is a great accomplishment for our team. We played pretty well yesterday and thought we would have a shot at catching Jamestown and moving to No. 2 overall. We just needed another solid round like we had yesterday, but we just didn’t have that today. I’m proud of our team. We showed this spring season how much we improved. Most of our scores were in the 320s and 330s.”
Concordia’s top three players came through this weekend. Placke has placed in the top 10 of the GPAC in each of her first three collegiate seasons. She shot scores of 76 and 81 in Council Bluffs and placed seventh overall (90-82-76-81–329) out of 46 individuals who completed all four championship rounds. The rough first round prevented Placke from making a serious run at a GPAC title, but she has that type of ability looking ahead to 2021-22.
While Placke clinched all-conference honors, Andrea Peterson vaulted up to 13th on the GPAC leaderboard by shooting an 82 on both Friday and Saturday. She achieved a four-round total of 93-86-82-82–343 while finishing her collegiate golf career. Said Muller, “She had a great ending to her career today. What a great close for her.”
This was also the end for Mia Martin, who competed in the spring semester after transferring from Concordia University, Portland. Martin shot rounds of 80 and 81 this weekend. She does not appear on the overall GPAC leaderboard since she did not compete in the fall. Martin averaged an 18-hole score of 81.9 in 10 rounds as a Bulldog. Said Muller, “It would have been nice to have Mia longer, but we’re very appreciative of the time we had with her. She made a definite impact in our team score. She’s a big reason why we improved so much from the fall to the spring.”
Concordia’s lineup was rounded out this weekend by Logan Eschliman (93-96-91-100 – 380; 31st) and Lauren Havlat (110-95-89-95–389; T-36th). Emily Jensen also competed in the fall portion of the GPAC championships and turned in scores of 92 and 97.
Muller knows Placke will be a rock for the program again next season. Said Muller, “You have to tip your hat to Kendra for finishing inside the top 10 of the conference. It’s not an easy task. The conference gets tougher every year. She continues to prove that she’s one of the best players in the conference.”
Impressively, the Bulldogs shot the three lowest rounds in program history this spring – a 324 at the Concordia Bulldog Invite, a 326 at the Wildcat Classic and a 327 at the GPAC championships. The 327 represented a school record for a conference tournament round.