The Northwestern College men’s golf team extended their lead at the GPAC championship with a win in Lincoln, Neb. on Oct. 1. The only team to finish under 300 that day, the Red Raiders shot 296, finishing five strokes ahead of the next best team.
There were four Red Raiders with Top 10 finishes on Thursday. Freshman Dane Waldron led all Red Raiders with a one-over 72 and a tie for fourth place. Sophomore Colton Kooima tied for eighth place with a 74, sophomore Justin Kraft and junior Ryan Christy tied for 10th with a 75. Freshman Zach Riddle was the last NW golfer with 84.
“I would attest our recent success to our commitment to always play for each other and not give up when a round isn’t going our way individually,” Christy said of their play. “We have another year of experience under our belt learning to manage our way around a golf course. Most of all, our team chemistry is great.”
With this win, NW extended its overall lead in the GPAC championship to 12 strokes. The Red Raiders have a two round score of 585 at the halfway point of this four-round championship. Kooima sits in second place after two-rounds with a two-over 144 (70/74), only one stroke behind the overall leader. Kraft and Christy moved up 10 spots and are now tied for 12th with a score of 151.
“We have two performance goals,” Christy said. “One is to successfully defend our GPAC championship as a team, and the other is to make some noise at the national tournament, making the cut. We have a solid start toward the goal we can control right now.”
With the final two rounds of the GPAC championship to be played in the spring, NW will conclude its fall season at the NAIA Preview Meet on Oct. 19-20 in Illinois.
