Two Days Through the Badger Invitational, Here's What We’ve Seen

At the time of publishing this article, the Bison are two days through the Badger Invitational, and no stats have been finalized.

On Sunday, Sept. 27, the North Dakota State men’s golf team teed off in Wisconsin for the Badger Invitational, which would take place over three days. This became one of the bigger tournaments of the season, with 19 total teams taking part in the event. There were a lot of familiar faces competing in the event: SDSU, UND, USD and St. Thomas all made the trip to Madison, Wisconsin. After two days of golf, the Bison sit in 14th place with a total score of 587(+11). North Dakota State is sandwiched between Illinois State and Southern Illinois. The Bison finished the first round in ninth place with a 290(+2) but fell six spots after shooting 297(+9). The Bison can climb back into the top ten if they become able to gain six strokes on Omaha or Western California.

Moving to the individual side, freshman Peyton Albers is the only Bison inside the top-30, sitting in a tie for 21st place. Albers is shooting 143(-1) with an impressive opening round of 68(-4), which saw seven birdies and a modest 75(+3). Albers will look to climb back into the top ten if he is able to gain three strokes on those ahead of him. Second for NDSU and sitting in a tie for 57th place is sophomore Joey Mackinac. He is shooting 148(+4), opening with a strong 71(-1) with four birdies, then following that up with 75(+4) to slide down the leaderboard.

Third for the Bison is sophomore Andrew Ballou, who sits in a tie for 64th place. Ballou is shooting 149(+5), with a 77(+5) on Sunday; Ballou was able to rebound and finish with an even 72, knocking down an eagle on the 11th hole. One stroke behind him is sophomore Carter White at a 150(+6). White and Ballou were the only two Bison to improve their scores on Monday, with White opening with a 77(+5) as well, but only getting down to a 73(+1). Finally, freshman Henry Johnson sits in a tie for 74th place, shooting 151(+7). Johnson opened with a strong 74(+2), then shot a 77(+5) on Tuesday.

The Bison look to climb the leaderboard Tuesday morning, with tee times starting at 9 a.m. CT on Sept. 30.