Newton, Kan. – In a field that featured six NAIA Top 25 teams, the No. 2-ranked Friends University Falcons put together a strong showing and finished tied for second at the Mid-South Classic in Newton, Kan in the program's first event since finishing second at the NAIA National Championship for the best national finish in university history.
The Falcons finished tied with Morningside at -3, with Northwestern (Iowa) winning with a team score of -19.
Bernhard Koster, an NAIA All-American and All-Tournament performer last season, was the highest finishing Falcon in a tie for seventh at three under par.
Jenson Boyce (-1) was next in a tie for 10th, followed by Jaydon Carruthers in 15th at even par.
Daniel Mena (+6) came in tied for 30th, with Sebastian Martinez (+11) tying for 54th.
Laken Matthews (T-16, +1), Dawson Branstetter (T-22nd, +3) and Brody Fox (T-48th, +10) also competed as individuals for the Falcons.
"This was a good first outing for the Falcons," said Friends men's golf head coach Tom McCurdy in his first tournament at the helm. "We had some stretches where we put together a string of birdies, so we know we have the ability to go low. I saw a ton of fight on the course from our guys, and that's a foundational element of winning tournaments. I was very happy to see a few of our guys start so well and Bernhard closing with three straight birdies was fantastic considering he didn't play his best golf this week.
Our roster is very deep so the guys can't take their feet off the gas with qualifying coming up. I know they want to play well and be in the line-up for our home tournament at Crestview in two weeks and I am anticipating we will have some good building days of prep for that event."
As McCurdy noted, the Falcons will next be in action in two weeks (Sept. 14-15) at their Crestview Fall Invite at the Crestview Country Club (North Course) in Wichita.
