MANHATTAN, Kan. – In the third and final round of the Midwest Spring National Invite held on Tuesday (April 9), Concordia University Men’s Golf slipped one spot in the team standings. The Bulldogs wound up in 12th place out of 15 squads in a loaded field featuring several of the top teams in the region. Individually, Drew D’Ercole led the way while finishing one stroke outside the 10 of the player leaderboard.
Head Coach Brett Muller’s squad shot a three-round score of 301-312-315–928 at the two-day event hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University. All three rounds were played at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan., where the weather cooperated with mostly light winds.
“We got off to a great start in round one and we were actually leading the tournament through the first six holes,” Muller said. “After the first 18, we were tied for fourth place. We just didn’t play as well in the second round. We had way too many big numbers. Justin (Webert) and Drew continue to lead us and perform very solid at the Nos. 1 and 2 spots. We need to eliminate some big scores and have some guys step up in those 3, 4 and 5 spots.”
A fifth-year collegiate competitor out of Papillion, Neb., D’Ercole continues to hold down the No. 1 spot in the Concordia lineup. He shot a consistent 72-74-74–220 (+4) in Manhattan and placed in a tie for 11th, narrowly missing out on a fifth top-10 tournament claim this 2023-24 season. D’Ercole has placed in the top 20 in seven of nine events on the campaign. Fresh off a tie for second place at the Southeast Community College Invite, junior Justin Webert landed at 28th on the Midwest Spring National Invite leaderboard after carding a score of 73-78-76–227.
Three other Bulldogs represented the program in Manhattan: junior Jake Hagerbaumer (81-75-84–240; T-56th), freshman Jacob Dowd (76-85-83–244; T-63rd) and senior Gavin McWhorter (80-85-82–247; T-68th). Each of those three competitors own one top-10 tournament placement this season.
The Midwest Spring National Invite included three NAIA top 25 teams: No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.), No. 20 Bellevue University and No. 21 Friends University (Kan.). There were also six GPAC squads amongst the 15 NAIA squads in the field. Concordia placed above GPAC rivals Midland (935) and Dordt (963).
Said Muller, “It was the strongest field we’ve played in. There were six teams inside the top 50 nationally. Our goal was to finish atop the GPAC. Even after the disappointing round two, we were still in position to make a push. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job done today.”
Concordia Results – Midwest Spring National Invite
TEAM: 301-312-315–928 (12th out of 15)
T11. Drew D’Ercole: 72-74-74–220
T28. Justin Webert: 73-78-76–227
T56. Jake Hagerbaumer: 81-75-84–240
T63. Jacob Dowd: 76-85-83–244
T68. Gavin McWhorter: 80-85-82–247
As a precursor to the 2024 GPAC Championships later this month, the Bulldogs will compete this coming Sunday-Monday (April 14-15) at the Nebraska Wesleyan Invite. The tournament will be staged at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln, Neb.