DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. – The 2020-21 season is in the books for Concordia University Men’s Golf. In the final round of the GPAC Championships played on Tuesday (April 27), the Bulldogs carded a team score of 321 and settled in at ninth place in the conference standings. From an individual perspective, Papillion, Neb., native Drew D’Ercole led the way for Concordia while placing 21st in the GPAC.
Head Coach Brett Muller’s squad concluded the conference tournament with a four-round total of 342-330-315-321–1,308. The Bulldogs beat out Hastings and Mount Marty.
“It was overcast and chilly and we didn’t play as well today,” Muller said. “Overall the scores a little bit higher across the board. Drew had a great round yesterday. The 85 today wasn’t what he wanted, but he had a great tournament and a really good season.”
In more adverse conditions, D’Ercole wasn’t able to duplicate the two-under-par 70 they he shot on Monday at Dakota Dunes Country Club in Dakota Dunes, S.D. In terms of GPAC placing, D’Ercole went from 28th at the close of the fall to 15th after Monday before finally winding up just outside the top 20. He shot cumulative score of 80-82-70-85–317. He starred as the team scoring average leader all season and was the winner of the Doane Invite.
The next best individuals to qualify for the overall GPAC leaderboard (must play all four rounds) were Ivan Yabut, who placed 31st (87-86-80-75–328), and Jayden Neal, who finished 38th (90-83-85-88–346). Over the past two days, Jacob Woodmancy carded a score of 80-79–159 and Gavin McWhorter shot 85-82–167. Back in the fall, Jack Williams (85-84–169) and Nate Auffet (93-81–174) also represented Concordia. Neal’s career in the navy and white saw him play in 49 varsity rounds with a career average just above 83.0.
The 315 the Bulldogs turned in on Monday marked a season low for conference tournament action. Concordia entered this week with a team 18-hole average of 319.6. In the shortened 2019-20 campaign, the Bulldogs placed seventh in the conference.
Neal will graduate on move on, but Muller believes improvement will come in 2021-22 thanks to the returning nucleus combined with the incoming recruiting class. “We had a different lineup this week … Jayden Neal finished his career this week and we appreciate his contributions to the program. The other four guys should be back. We feel like we have the ability to have a better team next year with the guys returning and our freshmen coming in.”