Nebraska Wesleyan shot the lowest team score of the day with a 310 to climb within eight strokes of team leader Morningside College after completion of the third round of the GPAC Championships as the GPAC Qualifier #3 was played at Firethorn Golf Course in Lincoln on Monday (April 11). NWU is now second overall at 935, while Morningside sits at 927.
The final GPAC Qualifier will be held at Prairie Green Golf Course in Sioux Falls, S.D., on May 4. Last year, NWU also had to rally back from behind to claim the GPAC championship as they trailed by five strokes heading into the final round.
It was a tough day of golf for all the competitors on Monday at Firethorn. The course setup, combined with some windy conditions made the average score 86.6.
NWU battled tough as all five players were 80 or better. Patrick Hanzel tied for the second lowest score of the day as he fired a 73 (+2). His low round on Monday now has him in contention for GPAC Individual champion as he is now among the top three golfers. He is in third place, eight behind the leader and two out of second.
E.J. Hamilton tied for the sixth lowest round with his score of 78 on Monday. Geoff Oliphant also finished in the top 10 on Monday, just one stroke back at 79. Nate Jaeger and Kyle Jaacks both shot 80 in the third qualifier. Jaacks was the individual leader after the first qualifier and fourth heading into today's round, while Jaeger was in tenth before today's action but finished with an eight on hole 18 for his 80. Jaacks is now sixth, while Jaeger is tied for ninth.
The low round of the day was shot by Luke Vermeer from Northwestern College as he had an even par 71. Vermeer is now the overall individual leader.
After Morningside and Nebraska Wesleyan, Dakota Wesleyan is currently in third place at 949, 14 strokes behind the Prairie Wolves.
