Boulder Creek, NV. – After a week of preparation, the time had finally come for the Wheeling University Men's Golf team to take the national stage. The Cardinals took on round one of the NCAA DII Men's Golf National Championships, sitting 19th through the first 18 holes. The Cardinals put up a combined score of 296, placing two golfers in the top 50 of the event.
Leading the effort for the Cardinals was sophomore Zak Collins, who finished at even par for the day. He started things off strong on the front nine, as did many of his teammates. He would knock a stroke off his score right away with a birdie on hole two, and stayed one under par for most of the front nine. He would string together six pars in a row following the birdie, and entered hole nine sitting at -1. He would even his score on hole nine, and headed to the back nine sitting at even par. He would get back on the right side of par to start the back nine, going two under par with birdies on 11 and 13 as he looked to finish strong. He would end up getting one of those strokes back on hole 14 and went back to even with another on 17. As he came down the final green, he set himself up for a par put on 18, and he hit it to finish even (72) for the round. He would finish in a tie for 35th, leading the Cardinals on the course.
Finishing right behind him was freshman Elias Ekenes-Fosback, who continued his momentum from regionals. He would finish tied for 35th in the field, shooting a 73 (+1) for the round. He was consistent from the beginning, hitting three straight pars before balancing a bogey with a birdie on holes four and five. He would continue to sit at even heading into hole nine, before ripping off his second birdie of the day to head to the back nine at -1. He would remain at -1 through the 15th hole, when he would hit bogey to go back to even par. He finished the round adding one more stroke to his score, but it was enough to finish in the top 50 at 73 (+1). Rounding out the Cardinal top three was graduate student Sean Dobson, who finished tied for 75th with a 75 (+3) for the round. Through the first seven holes of the day, Dobson was tied for the team lead at -1, but hit the turn at +1. He would end the day adding two more strokes on the back nine, but finished strong with six straight pars to end his round.
The final scoring player for the Cardinals was Lodin Femoen, who finished at +6 (79) for the round. Femoen was a part of a trio of Cardinals sitting at -1 through seven holes. He would hit two birdies during that stretch, hitting his first on hole two before balancing out a bogey and a birdie on holes four and five. He would be sitting at +1 after a bogey on nine, but went back to even with a birdie on hole 13. However, the back nine proved to be a tough stretch, and he would finish +6 for the round. The final Cardinal to hit the course was Troy Loughry, who finished in a tie for 105th with an 84. He would hit both of his birdies in the round on the back nine, including a big one on 16, as he finished out his first National Championship.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on day two of the NCAA DII National Championships, with tee times beginning at 1:15 PM.
