The Upper Iowa men's golf team returned to competition this week at the Watkins Invitational in Lake City, Minnesota. Out of the 15 competing teams, the Peacocks placed 9th after improving upon their first-round score of 318 by eight strokes to finish the event with an overall score of 628 (+52).
Missouri S & T claimed first place with a team score of 588 (+12). They were followed by Bemidji State with a score of 596 (+20) and the hosts Winona State University with a score of 597 (+21).
Individually, golfers from three competing schools tied for the top spot on the leaderboard. Missouri S & T's Gustav Liljedahl, Bemidji's Rylin Petry, and Minnesota State University's Max Brud each registered final scores of 144 (E).
Nolan Leaton paced the Peacocks this week with a final score of 150 (+6) to finish in a tie for 18th place. He was followed by
Owen Davison, who tied for 50th place with a score of 160 (+16).
Tate Carlson and
Nathan Petrak improved upon their first-round scores by four and 10 strokes respectively to finish with identical scores of 162 (+18) and in a tie for 59th place.
Ashton Martens finished one stroke behind them to finish in a tie for 65th place at 163 (+19). Competing as individuals,
Jacob Mahloch,
Nolan Ross, and
Bryan Verdon recorded scores of 162 (+18), 166 (+22), and 194 (+50) respectively.
Leaton finished the competition tied for fifth among all competitors with 26 pars and was one of 15 players to record an eagle. As a team, UIU finished tied for sixth in Par 5 scoring with a 5.00 stroke average (E), led by Leaton, Carlson, and Ross who each posted a 4.75 stroke average (-2).
"I'm proud of
Nolan Leaton's play to lead the team this week," said Head Coach
Mike Lewis. "He made a lot of tough pars that helped keep his score down. As a team, we aren't where we would like to be, but with two events left this fall, we look forward to showing an upward trend."
Up next, the Peacocks will travel to Lemont, Illinois next week to compete in the Flyer Invitational beginning on October 3.
