YANKTON, S.D. – The Concordia University Women’s Golf team lost ground on day two of the Mount Marty Invite (Sept. 2-3) but managed to place in the middle of the pack amongst 14 teams in the field. The season opening tournament covered 36 holes played at Fox Run Golf Course and Hillcrest Country Club in Yankton, S.D. Individually, standout Kendra Placke claimed the 21st tournament top 10 finish of her career.
Head Coach Brett Muller’s squad finished the event with a score of 342-364–706. The Bulldogs beat out GPAC rivals such as College of Saint Mary (eighth), Dordt (ninth) and Doane (10th). Hillcrest presents golfers more challenges than Fox Run.
“The greens are faster at Hillcrest so we expected the scores to be a little higher today,” Muller said. “I think there were only three scores in the 70s. I was very pleased with our team performance yesterday. 342 was a good starting point. It definitely showed that we have the capability to fill those spots left by Andrea (Peterson) and Mia (Martin). We just to develop some consistency.”
The Seward High School product Placke is expected to take the lead throughout the 2021-22 campaign. She entered Friday’s round with a shot at a tournament championship (four strokes behind the leader). Placke wound up 14 strokes out of first place with her two-round score of 77-85–162 (tied for seventh). The performance was right in line with her career scoring average of 81.0.
After shooting a career low round of 87 on Thursday, Mya Nurse landed at 33rd place out of 71 golfers on the individual leaderboard. She fired a two-day total of 87-93–180. Another five Bulldogs competed at the Mount Mart Invite: Logan Eschliman (87-96–183; T-37th), Lauren Havlat (91-92–183; T-37th), Emily Jensen (91-94–185; T-42nd), Ashley Gerczynski (98-100–198; T-52nd) and Sarah Wilson (99-105–204; T-60th).
The season will resume with the Lila Frommelt Invite hosted by Briar Cliff on Sept. 17-18. Two Rivers Golf Course in Dakota Dunes, S.D., will serve as the venue.