GPAC Conference Championship

Tuesday, April, 22, 2008 10 AM

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.

The regional tournament will be played at Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls, S.D. and will begin on Monday, April 29. The tournament will conclude on Tuesday, April 30.

Official GPAC Release
Region III Qualifiers

Finish	School	Strokes
1	Dakota Wesleyan	602
3	Tyler Evenson	72-75	147
7	Brett Abbotts	75-74	149
T 13	Nick Gates	82-72	154
T 18	Chris Pritchard	78-77	155
T 23	Tom Hoek	80-76	156
T 2	Dordt	613
8	Jordan Janz	78-73	151
T 9	Jason Kroese	77-75	152
T 23	Collin Broekhuis	77-79	156
T 28	Jared Rempel	84-75	159
T 35	Matt Zwart	79-82	161
T 2	Nebraska Wesleyan	613
T 9	Patrick Hanzel	76-76	152
T 13	Nate Jaeger	83-71	154
T 18	Tyler Lawson	77-78	155
T 18	Geoffrey Oliphant	80-75	155
T 26	Phil Hranac	81-77	158
4	Hastings	617
T 4	Will Logsdon	74-74	148
12	Nathan Gile	78-75	153
25	Brian Primavera	79-78	157
T 28	Jon Tanner	80-79	159
T 40	Rob Shannon	82-81	163
5	Midland Lutheran	619
T 13	Ron Harder	76-78	154
T 13	Justin Zebolsky	78-76	154
T 13	Jason Zoz	77-77	154
T 28	Adam Tannehill	83-76	159
T 40	Ben Deines	87-76	163
6	U. of Sioux Falls	621
T 4	James Walsh	76-72	148
T 26	Lucas Dowden	82-76	158
T 33	Matt Bertsch	82-78	160
T 33	Kyle Schock	85-75	160
T 35	Nathan Schunke	80-81	161
7	Briar Cliff	625
T 4	Ben Keane	77-71	148
T 18	Billy Keane	79-76	155
T 37	Jeff Demers	84-78	162
47	Doug Loutsch	84-82	166
48	Brett McCarville	91-76	167
8	Morningside	630
2	Chris Rager	73-72	145
T 28	Austin Vanderhoff	83-76	159
T 37	Ryan Benes	83-79	162
T 43	Brandon Morehead	86-78	164
T 49	Andrew Martin	89-80	169
9	Northwestern	639
1	Luke Vermeer	70-74	144
T 37	Nathan Summers	82-80	162
T 43	Kyle McGranahan	82-82	164
T 49	Justin Pannkuk	84-85	169
54	Jamie Jeltema	89-88	177
10	Concordia	645
T 9	Garrett Rathke	77-75	152
T 28	John Zilm	80-79	159
T 43	Mike Kulzer	84-80	164
51	Mike Frates	86-84	170
55	Alex Deeter	93-91	184
11	Doane	655
T 18	Brandon Wehenkel	81-74	155
T 40	Mark Steskal	86-77	163
T 43	Marcus Anderson	79-85	164
52	Trevor Rosenberger	90-83	173
53	Jon Jesen	90-86	176