Eric Johnson Head Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
Eric Johnson Head Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
The NMU men's golf team completed the first round of the GLIAC Championships at Stoatin Brae Golf Course in Augusta, Michigan, finishing eighth out of nine teams with a score of +26. Russell Sprecher led the Wildcats with a round of 73 (+2).
"Challenging weather conditions led to a poor start," stated head coach Eric Johnson. The team shot a collective +39 in their opening nine holes before improving to +14 in the final nine. The day's conditions included temperatures in the 40s, cloud coverage, light rain, and winds gusting over 30 mph. "It was good to see a couple of them hang in there and finish strong."
The Wildcats' score of +26 (310) places them 13 strokes ahead of Lake Superior State at +39 (323) and five strokes behind Purdue-Northwest at +21 (305). Grand Valley State leads after day one with a score of -2 (282), eight strokes ahead of Ferris State and 15 ahead of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The Wildcats played par 3's at +12 and par 4's at +31 but were second on the field behind GVSU in par 5 scoring at -4, averaging 4.80 strokes. They recorded 43 pars and had the third-most birdies on the field with ten.
Sprecher led the Wildcats by shooting a round of 73, achieving a top-10 finish after round one. He overcame an early triple bogey to shoot -1 over his final 15 holes, including consecutive birdies. Sprecher finished tied for first in pars among the field with 14 total.
Walter Ylitalo followed with a score of +7 (78), recording two birdies and nine pars. His younger brother Arthur Ylitalo scored +8 (79), while Eric Yun posted a +9 (80). Tyler Annala rounded out the team with a score of +13 (84). Team scores are determined by the top four scorers from five athletes.
A full list of results is available online.
The second round will continue tomorrow morning before medal match play begins in the evening.
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