ALEXANDRIA, Minn.---Despite more difficult playing conditions, the average score of the 45 participants went up by just over one stroke at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Men’s Golf Championship. The University of Northwestern, which held a 12-stroke advantage over the College of St. Scholastica after Day 1 of the three-day event, extended its buffer by just one stroke on Friday and will head into Saturday’s finale as the team to beat.
|
Day Two Results |
Championships Site |
Day Three Pairings |
Photos |
After playing in clear, calm conditions on Thursday, Friday’s field braved temperatures that peaked in the low- to mid-40s, with wind chills hovering around 30 to 35 degrees as winds were steady at about 15 miles per hour. Saturday’s forecast calls for a high of 49 degrees with light winds out of the northwest.
Friday was certainly a moving day for some teams on the golf course. Northland College, tied for sixth place following the first round, is now in third after posting the third-best score of the day (321), just two strokes off of UNW’s single day top score. Martin Luther College didn’t fare as well, as the Knights went from fourth place to eighth in a matter of 24 hours.
As far as individuals go, a three-way tie for first after Thursday went down two just two players following Friday’s play; the University of Minnesota Morris’ Kyle Och and Northwestern’s Mac Saby have matched each other’s rounds, with both going 76-78-154 (+10). Two individuals are within one stroke of Och and Saby, with six student-athletes at five strokes or less from the leaders. St. Scholastica’s Marc Peterson and Northland’s Evan Lunda boasted the day’s low rounds as each carded a 77.
All nine teams will be back for the third and final round of the UMAC Championship on Saturday. The team winner will collect not only the league trophy, but also an automatic qualifying ticket into next May’s NCAA Division III Tournament at Mission Inn in Florida. Tee times will begin at 11 a.m. at the par 72, 6,540-yard Alexandria Golf Club, starting with the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 teams and going in ascending order until the final trio tees off at 12:52 p.m.