North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University men's golf team is set to compete in the Flyer Fall Intercollegiate, taking place at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. The two-day tournament, hosted by Lewis University, will run from Monday, October 6 to Tuesday, October 7.

The event features several teams from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), including Purdue Northwest, Roosevelt, and UW Parkside. Other notable programs from the Midwest region participating are McKendree, William Jewell College, and Lewis University. National and regional rankings for these teams are based on final 2024 standings.

The tournament will also see participation from Kirkwood College of NJCAA Division 2 and NCAA Division 3 teams Trine and Wheaton.

Cog Hill Golf & Country Club is recognized as a historic public facility near Chicago. Its Dubsdread course has been listed among "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses" by Golf Digest and is rated as the top public course in Illinois by Golfweek.

Weather forecasts indicate partly cloudy conditions with temperatures in the low 80s and winds around 10 mph on Monday. On Tuesday, temperatures are expected to drop to the low 70s with a chance of rain at 42% and similar wind speeds.

In their previous outing at the Motor City Shakedown, Northern Michigan finished fourth out of five teams. The Wildcats recorded a three-round total of 921 (+57), narrowly missing a program milestone by five strokes. Their first round score of 295 (+7) placed them second after day one. Tyler Annala led NMU with rounds of 71 (-1), 79 (+7), and 78 (+6), finishing 14th overall. Annala's six birdies in his opening round matched his performance at last year's Flyer Fall Intercollegiate and was just one short of the program record for birdies in a round.

Arthur Ylitalo and Levi Pennala both posted scores of 229 (+13) to tie for 17th place. Harvey Ylitalo finished tied for 22nd with a score of 236 (+20). Jacob Daavettila made an eagle during his first round—the fifteenth in program history—finishing with a total score of 241 (+25). Brady Badker completed the lineup with a three-round score of 248 (+32).

At last season’s Flyer Fall Intercollegiate, NMU finished thirteenth out of seventeen teams with an overall score of +59 across two rounds. Annala placed thirty-third individually at +13.

Other participating teams have seen varied results so far this season:

- McKendree recently placed third at the UIndy Fall Invitational before finishing eleventh at the NCAA D2 Midwest Regional Preview.

- Purdue Northwest ended fifteenth out of nineteen teams at the Bulldog Fall Classic.

- Parkside began its season with an eleventh-place finish at the Bulldog Fall Classic followed by sixth place at another regional preview.

- Roosevelt finished nineteenth out of nineteen teams at their opener but improved to third out of five teams more recently.

- William Jewell opened their season tenth out of ten but secured second place in a smaller field before placing seventeenth out of seventeen most recently.

- Lewis University started strong with third place at the Arch Cup but has since had lower finishes in subsequent tournaments.

Tee times for this week’s tournament will be updated when available, and live scoring will be provided online.

Northern Michigan fans can follow updates on Instagram (Nmu_Wildcat_Golf), X (NMU_WildcatGolf), or Facebook (Northern Michigan University Wildcats).