September 26, 2007

Men's Golf Finishes 9th in Minnesota

Bednar Has Solid Effort

      Kearney, Neb. –  The Nebraska-Kearney men's golf team shot a 54-hole total of 938 to finish in ninth place at the Northwest Regional Head-to-Head Tournament in Hastings, Minn.

      The13-team tournament was played at the par 72 Hastings Country Club and hosted by Minnesota State-Mankato.       

      This tournament, and another one in the spring, go a long way in determining the field for the "Super Regionals" in May, the first phase of the NCAA Championships. UNK has qualified for Super Regionals six straight years; a total of six at-large spots will be available.

      The other two spots will go to the RMAC and NCC (North Central Conference) champions. 

      UNK was tied with Fort Lewis (630) after Monday's action. The Lopers shot a 308 today with the Skyhawks firing a 299 to finish eighth (929).        

      St. Cloud State (879) breezed to the tournament title, finishing 20 strokes lower then runner up Colorado-Colorado Springs. Two more RMAC teams, Colorado State-Pueblo (911) and Western New Mexico (912), were third and fourth, respectively.

      Individually, South Dakota junior Andy Bednar shot an 11 over par 227 (72-79-76) to come in 10^th place. Theo Frentzos of St. Cloud won the tourney with a four under par 212 (73-67-72).

      Also for UNK, Broken Bow junior Preston Foster tied for 36^th (236; 78-76-82), Ord sophomore Devon Kastler tied for 39^th (237; 77-84-76), Kearney sophomore Alex Farrell tied for 50^th place (241; 81-86-74) and  Omaha sophomore Justin Onken came in 62^nd place (252; 84-83-85).

      UNK hosts its annual alumni tournament, the Loper Cup, October 5^th at Kearney Country Club.