The NMU golf team placed 14th out of 27 teams this past weekend at the Great Lakes Midwest Regional II Saturday, April 4 at the Elks Run Golf Course in Batavia, Ohio.

Their first day of play was halted due to weather. The wet conditions forced the Wildcats to play 26 holes on Saturday.

When play resumed Saturday, not only did NMU place as a team in the top half of collegiate teams competing, but also had five of their golfers place in the top 100.

“We were fortunate to get all 36 holes of the tournament complete, thanks to David Schearer at Elks Run,” NMU head coach Kyle Wittenbach said. 

“The boys did a good job at staying patient with the weather and cooperating with the delays and setbacks. I am overall happy with the progress we are making.”

Senior Ayrton Mantha led the ’Cats, tying for 35th place in the tournament, carding a 72 during his second round of play.  Ayrton finished with a score of 158.

Sophomore Emil Lundgren tied for 45th place, finishing his two-day score right behind Mantha with a 149 score.

Freshman Austin Elsner carded a 74 during the opening round and a 76 during the second round, tying for 52nd place. He finished the tournament with a 150 score.

Sophomore Hunter Mires shot a 74 on day two, which helped him card a score of 152 for the tournament, in which he tied for 69th place.

Sophomore Dustin Dishaw shot a 153 for the weekend, finishing with a 75 on day two and a tie for 81st place.

“We have been working hard all offseason, and this past tournament we saw it start to pay off,” Dishaw said. “We were able to improve our team score from day one to day two, which was a great feeling since we have struggled to do that in the past. 14th out of 27 teams isn’t that bad, but we know that we can do better, and I know we will.”

NMU’s last Great Lakes Midwest Regional Tournament, which was hosted Sept. 29-30 in Chicago, Ill. left them with higher placings.

This Sunday, April 12, the ’Cats are back on the road for their third and final Great Lakes Midwest Regional Tournament of the season, leaving them with one more Invitational, the GLIAC Spring Invitational, before they wrap up their 2014-15 season as a team.

“I feel the team is making the right moves moving forward,” Elsner said. “I hope that we can continue to grow together and make a run at our second regional this weekend.”