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2008-09 Season Review

The 2008-09 season proved to be a successful one for the Northwestern men’s golf team as they concluded the season with a sixth place finish at the GPAC championship out of 11 teams.  Head Coach Mark Bloemendaal and his 13-player squad finished the season with four top-five finishes out of 13 events and carried a stroke average of 319.1. They finished the season with a 90-81-3 overall record.

NWC competed in seven meets over the course of the fall season and placed in the top five twice. They opened the season with a first place finish in the Red Raider Invitational, shooting a season-best 293, which tied for the seventh-best team score in the program’s history. The Red Raiders followed with a runner-up finish at the Buena Vista Invite in Storm Lake, Iowa. “We started the fall season playing very well,” comments Bloemendaal. “Luke was consistently in the top 10, and we had other individuals who shot well, allowing us to be in contention in our early meets.” The first round of the GPAC championship followed and Northwestern carded a 305 for fourth place out of 11 teams. Twelve days later, they completed the second round and dropped to sixth place overall with two rounds in the spring to complete. Coach Bloemendaal’s squad finished the fall season with a 10th place finish at Vermeerthe two-day Briar Cliff Invite and a sixth place finish in the Dordt Invitational.

During the spring season, the team faced the usual weather-related struggles, facing cold and windy conditions early on as well as having some early meets canceled. Playing in just one tune-up prior to the third round of the GPAC championship, the Raiders dropped to seventh place with a team score of 324. Justin Pannkuk led the team with a 78, good for a tie for 13th place. Luke Vermeer shot an 81 and fell to seventh with one round left to play. Northwestern followed with an 11th place finish at the Buena Vista Invitational and tied for eighth at the Midland Invite. In a final tune-up before the final round of the GPAC championship, the Raiders finished third at the Raider Invite, shooting a 301, their second-best total of the season. The team closed the season with a sixth place finish in the final round of the championship with a 322 and finished seventh overall. Vermeer earned all-conference honors with a seventh place finish at the conference meet, finishing 17 shots behind the champion. “After our strong start, we were optimistic about the season,” commented Bloemendaal.  “However, we did not sustain our good scoring as the season progressed.  It seemed that we had a hard time getting everyone playing well at the same time.   It is difficult to play any sport without being totally confident in your skills, and it seemed that we lost some of our confidence and had a hard time getting it back.  I was pleased with the improved play of Jamie Jeltema and Ross Kiewiet through the spring matches.  They both made contributions that made a difference in our placement in meets.”

For the second straight year, Vermeer led the Raiders with a 76.2 scoring average. The junior finshed in the top 10 in six events, including the overall championship at the Red Raider Invite. After three seasons with the Raiders, Vermeer holds the fourth-lowest career scoring average (77.2) in the program’s history. Pannkuk finished the season second on the team with a 79.3 scoring average and recorded three top-10 finishes. Pannkuk closes out his career 11th all-time with a 78.43 scoring average. Another senior, Jamie Jeltema (Orange City, Iowa), came on strong at the end of the season and recorded an 82.4 scoring average with one top-10 finish (Raider Invite). In 29 career rounds, Jeltema finishes his Raider career with an 84.2 scoring average. Junior Jon Roberts (Mitchell, Neb.) and freshmen Ross Kiewiet (Grundy Center, Iowa) and Aaron Rozeboom (Sioux Center, Iowa) were the other top golfers for Coach Bloemendaal’s squad and form a solid nucleus for the future.

In addition to Vermeer earning all-conference honors, three players earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors. Seniors Pannkuk and Jeltema were named for the second straight year while Hans Vander Plaats, a junior from Hinton, Iowa, took home the honor for the first time.