Head Coach: Brett Muller (14th season)
2023-24 GPAC Finish: 9th(303-314-314–931)
Key Returners: Josh D’Ercole; Jacob Dowd; Jake Hagerbaumer; Jake Richmond; Justin Webert.
Key Losses: Drew D’Ercole; Gavin McWhorter; Jacob Woodmancy.
2023-24 GPAC All-Conference: Drew D’Ercole (First Team).
Outlook
For the first time since the 2018-19 campaign, the Concordia Men’s Golf program will be without standout Drew D’Ercole, one of the top competitors in school history. D’Ercole slides into the graduate assistant coaching role in 2024-25 as Head Coach Brett Muller opens his 14th season at the helm of the Bulldogs. Muller fields a roster featuring five seniors, including three-year lineup regular Justin Webert, the team’s top returner from last season.
When at its best in 2023-24, Concordia proved it could hang with the top teams in the GPAC. However, the Bulldogs fell below their expectations at the 2024 GPAC Championships when they placed ninth, a four-spot dip from the previous year. They seek greater consistency heading into the fall.
Said Muller in assessing this year’s team, “Drew was a great player in our program the last five years. He is filling the role as graduate assistant. He’ll do a great job. He’s battle-tested and he’s been in those situations. He’s definitely somebody the guys can lean on for advice and for guidance. We have a large senior class this year. We have a lot of guys who have been in and out of the varsity lineup. We’re really looking for some guys to step up and solidify themselves in that lineup.”
The process of solidifying a strong top five began on Aug. 15 when the Bulldogs reported to campus. During the preseason, Concordia has hit the links at its home course of Highlands and elsewhere in the area. There are plenty of familiar faces as the five seniors are joined by two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman. Webert headlines a senior group that includes Gavin Buttshaw, Josh D’Ercole, Jaxson Fullerton and Jake Hagerbaumer.
Webert (Lincoln, Neb.) and Hagerbaumer (Hooper, Neb.) both played in all 25 varsity rounds during the 2023-24 campaign. Webert averaged a score of 76.6 (lowest among returners) last season and has shown the potential to place highly in the GPAC. Webert performed especially well during spring break when he shot 75-70–145 and placed seventh at the Maverick Desert Classic. There are four other returners who averaged in the 70s: Jake Richmond (77.7), Hagerbaumer (78.2), D’Ercole (78.9) and Jacob Dowd (79.8).
Said Muller of Webert, “Justin’s end to his junior campaign didn’t go as well as he would have liked, but he’s had a great fall camp so far. I definitely expect him to be one of our leaders and one of the guys who plays at the top of our lineup all year.”
From a team perspective, the Bulldogs hope to harness their best performances from last season that saw them shoot six rounds below 300. The season best of 291 came at home as part of the Blue River Classic, which wrapped up with Concordia placing third out of 16 teams. Additionally, the Bulldogs shot a solid 303 in round one of the GPAC tournament before falling off the pace in rounds two and three.
“I think we’re going to be good,” Webert said. “We’re young and old, but we’re really close. There’s 11 of us and we’re all pretty much best friends. I think we were a good team last year. We just didn’t play the best that we could, especially at GPAC. Our finish at GPAC didn’t really reflect how our season went.”
Aside from the seniors, the junior class is made up of Richmond and Brock Rogers, the sophomores are Bret Brenneis, Dowd and Maxwell Fremarek and the lone freshman is Isaac Carson. Based upon last season’s results, the battle for spots in the varsity lineup figures to be fierce. With the fall season about to officially get underway, Concordia is working on establishing a foundation.
Said Muller, “We sat down with each team and went over some goal setting. We set some pretty lofty goals. I do think they’re attainable. The fall season sets a foundation for the spring. We all know that the spring weather is a lot different than the fall. It’s not as nice. You play through a little more adversity. We know that a lot of our habits will be created in the fall with how we practice and approach our preparation.”
The fall portion of the 2024-25 slate is made up of five varsity events and two junior varsity tournaments. The action gets started this Monday-Tuesday (Aug. 26-27) with the Mount Marty Invite. The Bulldogs also look forward to co-hosting the Blue River Classic with Doane in early September. The entire schedule can be found HERE. The 2025 GPAC Men’s Golf Championships are set for April 21-22 in Beatrice, Neb.