KEARNEY, Neb. -- The Concordia University men's golf team saved their best for last at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Fall Invitational #2 at Meadowlark Hills Golf Course, shooting a 320+311+299=930 to finish 11th place at the 11 team invitational. The third round score of 299 was Concordia's season-low round as a team, five strokes better than their 304 in the first and second rounds of the NSIC Championships last weekend.
Concordia finished eight strokes behind the only other Northern Sun team, Upper Iowa (304+300+318=922). The RMAC Fall Invite #2 consisted of eight RMAC teams, the two NSIC teams and Missouri Western State from the MIAA.
The first two rounds were played through blistering wind conditions, spiking up to as much as 40 miles per hour by round two on Sunday. The CU men did not fare well in those conditions, with four of their five golfers shooting at least an 80 in round one, led by freshman Jeremy Tetrault (Forest Lake, Minn.) with a 79.
In round two, the team saw improvement in three of the five golfers, with sophomore Nick Jarrett (Woodbury, Minn.) showing the most dramatic improvement. Jarrett fired a career-low round of 71, improving nine strokes on his first round score. The second round 71 was tied for fifth in the field of 60 for the round. Jarrett's 71 was also the best round by a Concordia male golfer thus far in 2008-09 and is tied for the best round in CU men's golf history.
The third round saw the most dramatic improvement, as all four of the five golfers improved and all five shot in the 70's. While sophomore Kyle Lewis (Forest Lake, Minn.) shot the low round of 73, it was senior Nick Gallaway (White Bear Lake, Minn.) that improved the most, moving up 13 strokes to a 74. Gallaway's 74 was the best round he has produced since firing a 71 in the 2006-07 season. For Lewis, shooting a 73 is nothing new, it's the fifth time in seven rounds he has produced a score of 73.
Lewis completed the event with the top score for the team, tying for 36th place with scores of 80+75+73=228. He was two strokes ahead of Jarrett (80+71+79=230), who tied for 44th.
UC-Colorado Springs won the RMAC Invite #2, shooting 282+282+284=848 with their top golfer, Riley Andrews, taking medalist honors with scores of 67+64+69=200, seven strokes ahead of the next finisher.
