Index of Sports Press Releases

April 8, 2008

DWU women golfers win, men set record in second-place finish
The Daily Republic

FORT DODGE, Iowa — It was a banner day for the Dakota Wesleyan University men’s and women’s golf teams at the Grand View Classic in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

The women, in their first event of the spring season, won with a total score of 666. The men finished second to the host school, Grand View, by a single stroke, but set a new school scoring record in the process. DWU’s 36-hole score of 591 beat the previous record of 592, which was set in a tournament at Hastings College in the fall.

“Ironically, at Hastings, we lost by one shot,” said Tigers’ head coach Adam Anderson. “So this is the second time this year we set the school record and lost by one shot. Kind of ironic and bitter-sweet.”

DWU was led by freshman Tyler Evenson, who had one of his best performances of his young career. He shot a 73 in each round to finish in a tie for third with a total of 146.

“Things are starting to click for (Evenson),” Anderson said. “We’ve been working a lot on his transition from his backswing to his downswing. He just had a lot of confidence. It’s nice that we’re having different guys step up at different times.”

Though Evenson led the way, the entire DWU lineup was spectacular. Each golfer shot a score in the 70s in both rounds. Senior Tom Hoek (76-72) and junior Brett Abbotts (73-75) finished in a tie for eighth with identical 148s. Chris Pritchard (72-78) shot a 150 and Nick Gates (75-78) carded a 153.

“I think that just speaks volumes about the quality of team we have this year,” Anderson said. “I know in my first year when we took over the program, it’d be nice if we had two scores in the 70s.

“The guys keep playing better and better. As a coach, that’s what I want, obviously. Things are starting to click.”

Things also clicked for the women at the two-day tournament, who showed little signs of lingering rust as they captured the tournament title by a whopping 14 shots.

“I think all of us were worried about the rust, but with our indoor practices and a good work ethic in the off-season, we were able to pick it up pretty well,” said Tigers’ assistant coach Ben Irlbeck.

DWU was led to victory by Abby Wheeling (76-78), who was the medalist with a total of 154, and Cassidy Potter (75-80), who finished second with a 155.

“It’s Abby’s first collegiate tournament win, so all the girls were extremely happy for her to break that barrier,” Irlbeck said. “She just played solid and consistent the entire way around. Cassidy, she continued her strong play from last fall. She just picked up where she left off.”

Kelli Baseley (89-91) added a 180, Amber Raisanen (96-89) shot a 185 and Heather Love shot an 89 the first day before being disqualified in the final round. Love’s ball was moved by the win on the green, and she moved it back to its original spot, which was a violation.

“She realized she had a rules infraction that she didn’t catch in time, so she took it upon herself to disqualify herself, which is extremely hard to do,” Irlbeck said. “You live and you learn.”

Irlbeck added that the disqualification made the dominant victory that much more impressive.

“It’s great to have a deep team, because today we had one person disqualified and we still handily won the tournament,” he said. “It’s good to have a team top to bottom that can play.”

The women play again April 13 at Nebraska Wesleyan, and the men are off until April 14.