Ferris State Men's Golf Concludes 14th-Straight NCAA Appearance With Strong Finish
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's golf team had a strong finish to the 2016 campaign as the Bulldogs continued their climb up the leader board in the NCAA Division II Midwest/Central Super Regional Championships, which wrapped up with final round play Wednesday (May 4) at The Meadows Golf Club in Allendale.
The Bulldogs concluded the three-day, 54-hole tournament in 12th place with a 920 team score, but moved up seven spots over the final two days of the event. In addition, FSU finished only seven shots away from advancing to the national championships as a total of only eight strokes seperated the fourth thru eighth place squads with the top five overall advancing to the D2 finals.
After shooting a 311 team figure in Monday's opening round in Allendale, the Bulldogs came back with an impressive 302 score on Tuesday and then concluded the event by shooting a 307 figure in Wednesday's final round despite rain and troublesome weather conditions.
Ferris State's 307 team figure was the second-best overall of the 19 competing teams in Wednesday's final day of action.
The tournament was won by Central Missouri with a 900 team total while Southeastern Oklahoma State placed second (901), Bellarmine took third (908) followed by Tiffin (912) and Central Oklahoma (913) in the top five. FSU's 12th-place 920 team figure was two shots ahead of host Grand Valley State along with Henderson State (Ark.) and Arkansas Tech, which all tied for 13th in the field.
The Bulldogs were led by sophomore Jack Weller, who finished tied for 11th in the individual field at 225 overall. He followed up his one-over par 72 in round one with a 77 in the second round followed by a 76 in Wednesday's final 18 holes of action.
Sophomore Ryan Bayer tied for 38th in the field with a 230 total. He progressively bettered his score each round as he shot 80 in round one followed by a 76 in the second round and a final round total of 74, which was FSU's best of the day.
FSU junior Tyler Siech placed tied for 58th with a 233 figure. After a first-round 82, he shot a 72 in round two and then concluded the event with a 79 in the third and final round.
Bulldog sophomore Seth Terpstra finished with a 234 total, which was good for a share of 62nd place in the field. He shot in the 70's all three days with a first round 79 before carding a 77 in round two and a 78 in the final 18 holes of action.
Finally, junior Cody Simons carded a 241, good for a share of 88th place. He finished with a final-round score of 83 on Wednesday after posting scores of 80 and 78 the first two days, respectively.
The Midwest/Central Regional was hosted by Grand Valley State University and consisted of 10 teams from the Midwest Region along with 10 from the Central Region. Four individuals from each region also competed in the 54-hole tournament.
The top five teams and the top two individuals not affiliated with a team from each regional (regardless of region) advanced to the 2016 NCAA-II Men's Golf Championships slated for May 17-21 at Green Valley Ranch in Denver, Colo. The finals will be hosted by Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Along with number seven seed Ferris State, those teams from the Midwest Region who were making the super regional tourney appearance included top-seeded Missouri-St. Louis, Indianapolis, Tiffin, Grand Valley State, Northwood, Northern Michigan, FSU, Lewis, Bellarmine (Ky.) and Trevecca Nazarene in respective seeding order.
Central Missouri was the Central Region's top seed and followed by Central Oklahoma, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Winona State, Arkansas Tech, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Henderson State, Lindenwood, Washburn and Minnesota State entering the tourney.
This year represented the Bulldogs' 14th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Ferris State's current 14-year NCAA Championship appearance streak in men's golf ranks as one of the longest active stretches in the country.