LINCOLN, Neb. – Inclement weather rolled in just as the field of golfers at the 2024 Kaitlyn Erickson Invite were closing in on the finish line. The storm wiped out round two of the tournament and made the results from Monday (April 15) final. In other words, the Concordia University Women’s Golf team tied for third place out of 10 teams in the field. The Bulldogs carded a spring season low of 347 in Monday’s round played at Wilderness Ridge Country Club in Lincoln, Neb.
Head Coach Brett Muller’s squad finished behind only Bellevue University (323) and Dakota Wesleyan (345) amongst the 10 groupings in the Erickson Invite field. Doane served as the host of the tournament that shifted to Pioneers Golf Course on Tuesday. Concordia had battled its way into a tie for second place when the lightning hit on Tuesday.
“I’m very excited where we finished the regular season going into the GPAC Championship next Monday-Tuesday,” Muller said. “To be tied for third at the halfway point with the teams playing around us, there was a little bit more pressure. We had a couple big numbers, but we hung in there and battled back. When the event got canceled, we were tied for second with Dakota Wesleyan. We had the same number of holes left, so it was disappointing that the weather intervened.”
A senior from West Des Moines, Iowa, Mya Nurse shot a season low 83 on Monday and placed ninth out of 59 competitors in the field. The performance marked Nurse’s first top-10 placement of the season. Nurse paced a group of eight Bulldogs at Wilderness Ridge while coming up three strokes shy of her career low. The team’s No. 1 golfer in terms of season average (86.3), sophomore Emery Custer shot an 84 on Monday and placed in a tie for 10th place. The other players whose scores counted towards the 347 team total were Jennifer Gillotti (89; T-17th) and Maddie Lewis (91; T-22nd).
Concordia’s entire lineup at the event also featured Sarah Wilson (97; T-33rd), Logan Eschliman (98; T-36th), Ericka Kroeker (106; 48th) and Abigail Kollbaum (108; 50th). No player in the lineup had ever played Wilderness Ridge, a location the Bulldog women’s program last ventured to in 2018 for the same tournament.
Propped up by the top-10 finishes from Nurse and Custer, Concordia beat out GPAC competition in Mount Marty (fifth), Doane (sixth) and Hastings (seventh). The Bulldogs shared third place with College of Saint Mary.
Bulldogs at Kaitlyn Erickson Invite
TEAM: 347 (T-3rd out of 10)
9. Mya Nurse: 83
T10. Emery Custer: 84
T17. Jennifer Gillotti: 89
T22. Maddie Lewis: 91
T33. Sarah Wilson: 97
T36. Logan Eschliman: 98
48. Ericka Kroeker: 106
50. Abigail Kollbaum: 108
Up next are the 2024 GPAC Women’s Golf Championships. The conference tournament will take place April 22-23 at Spencer Golf and Country Club in Spencer, Iowa. Concordia will attempt to move up the ladder after placing 10th in the GPAC in 2023.