The Event... The Northwestern men's golf team concludes its 2008-09 season with the fourth and final round of the GPAC Qualifier Championship this afternoon. First tee times are set at 11:00 am at Whispering Creek Golf Club in Sioux City, Iowa. Morningside serves as the host school.
At Stake... The top two teams, after the fourth and final qualifier, will advance to the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships in May. The top ten individuals in the four conference meets will receive medals and be designated as all-conference. To qualify for these ten spots the individual must play in all four meets. Ties will not be broken in the individual standings with the exception of first place.
Prior Results...
Round One...The Red Raider men's golf team competed in the first round of the GPAC championship held in Mitchell, S.D.,hosted by Dakota Wesleyan. Northwestern finished with a 305, just four shots in back of second place Nebraska Wesleyan, who shot a 301. DWU is in first place with a 289 and Hastings is in third with a 302, followed by the Red Raiders and USF (308). The first round was played at Wild Oak Golf Club.
Individually, the Red Raiders were led by Luke Vermeer and Justin Pannkuk, who tied for third with a one-over 73. Vermeer shot a 37 on the front nine and a 36 on the back. Pannkuk carded a two-under 34 on the front, but finished with a 39 on the back. Jon Roberts tied for 23rd with a 78 (40/38) and Jamie Jeltema tied for 35th with an 81 (42/39). Kyle McGranahan rounded out the scoring with an 88 and tied for 51st. Two players, Nick Gates (DWU) and E.J. Hamilton (NWU) are the overall leaders with a two-under 70. Three other Dakota Wesleyan golfers also tied for third with Vermeer and Pannkuk at 73.
Round Two... The Northwestern College men's golf team is in sixth place overall after the second round of the GPAC Qualifier Championship. Today's round was hosted by Doane College and was held at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb.
The Red Raiders entered the second round in fourth place after shooting a 305 in round one. This afternoon, Northwestern carded a 329, the eighth best team score of the afternoon, and fell to sixth place overall with a 634. They stand just six shot back, however, of fourth place USF (628) and just two shots in back of fifth place Hastings (632). Dakota Wesleyan continues to lead the championship with a team score of 586 (+14). Nebraska Wesleyan is in second with a 605, followed by Morningside with a 622. The Mustangs made the biggest move of the day as they began the round in sixth place.
Individually, Northwestern was led by Luke Vermeer who carded a three-over 75 this afternoon for a two-day total of 148. He is currently tied for fourth place with two other golfers and trails the overall leader, Nick Gates (DWU) by five shots. Justin Pannkuk is tied for 19th place with a 157 (+14). The senior shot an opening round 73 and followed with an 84 this afternoon. Jon Roberts is tied with three other golfers for 32nd place with a 163 (78/85). Jamie Jeltema (166) is tied for 38th while Kyle McGranahan is in 47th place with a 178.
Round Three... The Northwestern College men's golf team finished eighth out of 11 teams in the third round of the GPAC Qualifying Championship. After three rounds, the Raiders stand in seventh place, nine shots in back of sixth place USF, with a 958.
The Raiders shot 324 in the third round, two shots in back of both Midland Lutheran and Dakota Wesleyan and three shots behind USF. Senior Justin Pannkuk led NWC with a six-over 78 (40/38) and tied for 13th place. Junior Luke Vermeer tied for 25th with a nine-over 81 (40/41) and Ross Kiewet (40/42-82), Jon Roberts (43/40-83) and Jamie Jeltema (44/42-86) round out the Raider scores. Hastings won the third round with a 303, followed by Dordt (307) and Nebraska Wesleyan (308). Justin Zebolsky (Midland Lutheran) took medalist honors with a one-under 71.
After three rounds, Dakota Wesleyan continues to lead with a team score of 908. The Tigers hold a five-shot lead over Nebraska Wesleyan (913) with one round left to play (April 28 @ Morningside). Hastings stands in distant third place with a 935.
Individually, Brett Abbotts (DWU), E.J. Hamilton (NWU) and Justin Zebolsky (MLC) are all tied for the lead at eight-over (223). Jared Rempel (DOR) is just one shot back (224), followed by Nick Gates (DWU) and Cam Jacobs (MOR) who shot 225 and 226, respectively. Luke Vermeer is in seventh place with a 229, 14 shots in back of leaders, and is the top Raiders golfer. Justin Pannkuk is in 15th place overall with a 235 (+20). Jon Roberts (246) and Jamie Jeltema (252) are tied for 30th and tied for 33rd, respectively.
Thru Three Rounds Results Cumulative
Last Year... Luke Vermeer claimed medalist honors and was crowned the GPAC Men's Golf Individual Champion at the GPAC Championships played at Green Valley Golf Club in Sioux City, Iowa. The sophomore from Sioux Center, Iowa shot an even-par 144, one shot better than runner-up Chris Rager from Morningside. Vermeer shot a two-under 70 and had a two stroke advantage after day one and carded a 74 on day two. By winning the GPAC Championship, he earned GPAC Player-of-the-Year honors and will advance to play in the regional tournament next week at the Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls, S.D. Vermeer is the second GPAC champion from Northwestern in three years (Dan Laaveg in 2006).
Northwestern as a team dropped three spots after day one and finished in ninth place overall with a 639. They shot a 318 and were in sixth place after day one and carded a 321 on day two. Dakota Wesleyan won the team championship with a 602, 11 shots in front of Nebraska Wesleyan and Dordt, who tied for second with a 613. Hastings (617), Midland Lutheran (619) and USF (621) will also move on to regionals next week. The top five teams, minus Nebraska Wesleyan, and any individual that finishes in the top 10 that is not part of a top-five team advance to regional play.
After Vermeer's first place finish, senior Nathan Summers finished tied for 37th place with a 162 (82/80). Kyle McGranahan tied for 43rd with a 164 while Justin Pannkuk (169) and Jamie Jeltema (177) were the other NWC golfers.
Last Time Out... Northwestern finished third out of seven teams last week at the Raider Spring Invite. The Red Raiders shot a spring season best 301, three shots in back of second place USF. Senior Jamie Jeltema finished tied for sixth with a career-best 74, followed by Jonathan Roberts who tied for 10th with a 75. Luke Vermeer and Ross Kiewiet tied for 13th with a 76.
The Lineup... Luke Vermeer (76.3), Justin Pannkuk (78.6), Jon Roberts (82.5), Jamie Jeltema (82.9) and Ross Kiewiet (83.6) are scheduled to compete. Vermeer leads the team with five top-10 finishes while Roberts and Pannkuk have placed in the top 10 three times.
