Over the weekend, the Wildcat golf teams traveled down to Illinois, where the teams competed in the Flyer Spring Invite. 

The teams competed in separate tournaments, one for the women and one for the men. 

The women competed against 12 teams in the competition and placed eighth.

In the first round of the competition, the Wildcats’ women’s team shot 345. Leading the team on the first day was senior Maggie Pietila, with an overall score of 82 on the first 18. Following Pietila was another Pietila—this time, it was freshman Abbie Pietila, who scored an 87 in the first 18 holes. 

On day two, the final day of the competition, the Cats scored a 348 on the 18 holes, this time led by junior Hailey Bolander, with a score of 80. 

The men competed against 12 other teams as well and placed 10th out of 13. They fell back on day two after finishing the first day tied for ninth. On opening day, the men shot a team score of 318. 

Junior Tyler Annala and senior Walter Ylitalo both scored a 78 on the opening 18 holes. Following them on the first day, another Ylitalo scored a 79—this time it was sophomore Arthur Ylitalo, who shot 79 in the first round.

Moving into day two of the competition, the team shot a 311. The team’s leading scorer was Arthur Ylitalo, who shot a 75. 

Next, the teams are back on the road this week. Both men’s and women’s teams will travel to Grove City, Ohio, where both teams will compete in the Bill Blazer Memorial match play. The men’s team will begin competition on April 5 and continue through the weekend, while the women’s team will begin on Monday, April 7, and continue until Tuesday, April 8.

After the quick turnaround between events, the teams will get two weeks off before heading into the GLIAC Championships. These events will be held at different times for the men and women. The men’s GLIAC Championship will be held on April 18-20, with the women’s championships to follow the week after on April 25-27.