A Solid Start At The MIAC Meet
Concordia carded its best opening-round score in the MIAC Championship Meet since 2013 and ended Day 1 in third place at the conference meet.
HASTINGS, Minn. (4/30/21)---Concordia carded its best opening-round score in the MIAC Championship Meet since 2013 and ended Day 1 in third place at the conference meet.
The Cobbers had all four of their scoring players finish with a score of 78 or better and came in with a team total of 301. The last time that Concordia fired an opening-round score that was better than 301 came in 2013 when they opened with a 298 and finished in fourth place.
Concordia had one consistent – and one surprise – at the top of their team leaderboard. Senior Mason Opheim, who has been the team's No.1 or No.2 finisher all spring long, shot a 2-over, 74 and is tied for ninth place. The 74 is Opheim's lowest total for a single round in a conference meet. His previous low score was a 75 which came in the second round in 2019.
Opheim posted three birdies on the front side to go out in 34 but then had a pair of bogeys and a double in the first six holes on the back 9.
Opheim is joined by freshman Samuel Henke who fired an identical 74 to jump into the Top 10 after Day 1. The 74 is the lowest 18-hole total for Henke in his collegiate career. His previous low score came at the St. John's Spring Invite last weekend when he carded a 78 in the second round.
Henke had a pair of birdies to go along with a pair of bogeys and shot an even-par score of 36 on the first 9. He came home in 38 which included a birdie of the par 5 17th hole.
Tyler Bossert and Ryan Jenson were the other two Cobber scoring players on the opening day of the conference meet. Bossert birdied three of his final five holes on the day and finished with an even-par 36 on the back 9 which got him to 76 for the round. He is currently tied for 17th place.
Jenson, the second of three freshmen playing for the Cobbers this weekend, went on in 1-under par which included plenty of circles and squares on the card. He birdied four holes on his first-ever college conference meet, but also posted three bogeys. Unfortunately for Jenson, he ran out of birdies on the backside and came hone in 42 to post a 77 and slide into the No.22 spot in the individual standings.
Justin Lamp, the final freshmen of the Cobber 5, was done in by a pair of big-number holes on the second hole of each 9 on the day. He posted a final total of 81 which included a double-bogey 6 on the second hole and a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par 3 11th hole.
UP NEXT: Concordia will tee off in the third-to-last group of the day on Saturday. The Cobbers will start the second day of the MIAC Meet at 10 a.m. at Emerald Greens GC in Hastings.
RECAP SPONSOR: Today's recap sponsor is Buffalo Wild Wings. Cobber athletics would like to thank B-Dubs for their continued support of Concordia student/athletes. Whenever Cobber Director of Golf Operations Joe Christianson go wild on wings, he always chooses Buffalo Wild Wings.