Season opens with 13th-place finish in Yankton

By Jacob Knabel on Sep. 1, 2017 in Women's Golf

YANKTON, S.D. – The Concordia University women’s golf team is still adjusting to life without GPAC champion Amy Ahlers. While completing the two-round Mount Marty Fall Invite, the Bulldogs placed 13th out of 14 teams. They carded a score of 390-412–802. The first round was played at Fox Run Golf Club before shifting to Hillcrest Country Club for round two.

Seventh-year head coach Brett Muller’s program is coming off an eighth place GPAC finish in 2016-17. Concordia starts anew with sophomore Murphy Sears taking over the No. 1 spot in the lineup.

Sears turned in the team’s top score with a 92-91–183, putting her in a tie for 39th place in a field of 82 golfers. The rest of the lineup included Payton DeMers-Sahling (98-110–208), Gabrielle Coviello (97-113–210), Madison Pitsch (110-101–211) and Paighton Barbre (103-110–213). In addition, two Bulldogs competed as individuals: Haley Nolde (98-98–196) and Rebecca Day (101-99–200). The tournament marked the college debuts of Coviello, Day and Nolde.

The tournament field was made up of almost exclusively GPAC teams with the exception of William Penn University. The event served as a homecoming for new graduate assistant coach Logan Wagner, who graduated from Mount Marty this past May.

Next up for the Bulldogs is the Midland Fall Invite on Sept. 11. The meet is set to take place at Fremont Golf Club in Fremont, Neb. Tee time is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT.