DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. – With the first of two rounds in the books, Seward High School product Kendra Placke leads a field of more than 80 golfers at the annual Lila Frommelt Fall Classic. The event hosted by Briar Cliff got underway on Friday (Sept. 18) and will continue from Two Rivers Golf Club in Dakota Dunes, S.D., on Saturday. The Concordia University Women’s Golf team will attempt to move up from its current positioning of sixth place (out of 14 squads).
Head Coach Brett Muller’s group shot an 18-hole team score of 350 (+66), which sits between the two rounds the Bulldogs shot last week at the Mount Marty Fall Invite (366-339–705). Eighteen strokes separate the teams in second through sixth place at the Lila Frommelt Classic.
Placke will take a six-stroke lead into Saturday’s round. The one-over-par 72 on Friday represented a career best score for the two-time All-GPAC performer. Placke’s day included 13 pars and two birdies as part of a steady, consistent round. The Seward native will take aim at her second career tournament victory. She also came out on top at the Nebraska Wesleyan Classic last fall.
Concordia will hope for improvement behind Placke on Saturday. The rest of the lineup included Logan Eschliman (90; T-35th), Andrea Peterson (93; T-40th), Lauren Havlat (95; T-51st) and Emily Jensen (97; T-59th). Two Bulldogs competed as individuals: Mya Nurse (100; T-65th) and Ashley Gerczynski (104; T-70th).
The tournament field is heavy on GPAC teams and also includes Buena Vista University, Iowa Western Community College and University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Based on the current leaderboard, the biggest threats to Placke’s lead are three individuals tied for second (each shot a 78 on Friday): Samantha Knight of Morningside, Seira Kubo of Iowa Western and Victoria Suto of College of Saint Mary.
Action will get started at 9:30 a.m. CT with a shotgun start from Two Rivers. Results can be followed by visiting https://www.golfgenius.com/ (or use the Golf Genius app) and typing 2020LILA as the “GGID.”