LINCOLN, Neb. – While still breezy, a bright sunshine soaked the sweeping, rolling terrain at Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln as the Concordia University golf program hosted a GPAC qualifier for the first time ever. The Bulldog women didn’t quite meet the expectations they had set for themselves, settling for a 10th-place finish at Wednesday’s GPAC Qualifier No. 3.
A disqualification contributed to Concordia’s high team score of 379. Fifth-year head coach Brett Muller’s squad fell back one spot on the overall leaderboard and now sits in a tie for sixth with a three-round score of 354-348-379–1,081.
The never satisfied Amy Ahlers turned in an 81 and tied for fifth place. The reigning GPAC player of the week has yet to fail to crack the top 10 at an event during her junior season. Ahlers is now fourth on the overall leaderboard with a three-round total of 84-82-81–247. She had seven pars and two birdies on Wednesday.
“I was so excited. I was really looking forward to today,” Ahlers said. “It’s a huge thing to be at your home course. It’s a huge advantage. We practice here and really know how it works. I feel like today should have been a good day so it hurts.”
Sophomore Ashlen Pospisil took advantage of the familiar surroundings and carded an 83, a career low by five strokes. The native of Norfolk, Neb., climbed to 26th place overall after tying for 11th on the day. After Ahlers, Kayla Krueger is next in line among Bulldogs in the standings. She’s tied for 13th (83-87-88–258).
The other score that factored into the team’s GPAC No. 3 score came from freshman Madison Pitsch. She carded a 127.
Concordia had hoped to build upon its first-place finish at the College of Saint Mary Spring Invitational five days earlier when it defeated nine GPAC rivals.
“It felt so good for everything to come together all at once,” Ahlers said. “It was a tough (weather) day out there and we battled through it.”
The Bulldogs take a break before returning to action April 23-24 for the two-day Buena Vista University Spring Invite. Both rounds of the event will take place at Lake Creek Country Club in Storm Lake, Iowa. The first day’s round will begin at 12 p.m. before action picks up at 9 a.m. the following day. The final conference qualifier is set for May 2.