Ben Johnson Assistant Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
Ben Johnson Assistant Coach | Northern Michigan University Athletics Website
The Northern Michigan University men's golf team finished sixth out of nine teams at the Motor City Shakedown in Dearborn, Michigan. The team was led by Arthur Ylitalo and Eric Yun, who both secured top-10 finishes.
Arthur Ylitalo placed in the top three with a round of 74 (+2), resulting in a two-day total of 143 (-1). This score is Ylitalo's best 18-hole score to date and ties Austin Elsner's record for individual 36-hole scores at NMU. Reflecting on his performance, Ylitalo said, "I missed a few chances and had a couple of bad shots, but I scrambled well today and grinded to stay under par for the tournament." He recorded five birdies in his second round, four of which were on the back-nine. His 11 birdies over two rounds are also the second most in NMU history for an individual through 36 holes. Following his third-place finish, Ylitalo was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Eric Yun achieved his fifth career top-10 finish by placing seventh individually with a two-day total of 145 (+1), including nine birdies.
Walter Ylitalo and Joe Luke contributed to the team's scoring with two-day totals of 151 (+7) and 158 (+14), respectively. Each golfer made two birdies.
The Wildcats dropped four spots from their previous day's position, adding 14 strokes to their total with a round of 304. Head coach Ben Johnson commented on the performance: "This is a challenging golf course, which makes it difficult to put two good days together, and I'm happy to see a couple of our guys play well both days." He added that the next goal is for everyone on the team to perform consistently over two days.
Tyler Annala and Russel Sprecher finished in 48th and 53rd places with scores of +16 (160) and +26 (170), respectively.
The Wildcats will compete next week at the Flyer Intercollegiate in Lemont, Illinois, from October 7th-8th.
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