Waldorf sits in fifth entering final round of NSAA Championships

By Matt Oliver

LINCOLN, Nebraska – With a 967-stroke total, the Waldorf University men’s golf team sits in fifth place heading to the final round of the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Championships.

The Warriors shot an 18-hole team score of 322 strokes on Monday to complete the third round of the cumulative conference tournament, which opened with its first two rounds in September at Oxbow, North Dakota.

Waldorf’s Hugo Becerra is tied for second with a 228 after firing a third-round score of 78 on the par-71 layout at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course. Kole Hallmark owns a share of 13th with a 243 following an 81.

Rick Young and Austin Heeren carded third-round totals of 85 for the Warriors. Young holds 18th with 250 strokes while Heeren is tied for 21st with 256.

Waldorf’s Thomas O’Rourke, who did not compete during the fall stage of the tournament, provided a 78-stroke outing on Monday.

Bellevue University, which is receiving votes in the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) poll, owns first place with 911 strokes. Viterbo University (925) sits in second while Valley City State University (959), University of Jamestown (961), Waldorf (967), Dickinson State University (1,063) and Presentation College (1,133) round out the team standings.

Bellevue’s Diego Gudino leads the field with a 5-over score of 220, eight strokes ahead of Becerra and Bellevue’s Juan Gomez. The top team and individual advances to the NAIA National Championships, scheduled for May 24-27 at Silvis, Illinois.

Waldorf closes out the final round of the conference tournament on Tuesday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.