MANHATTAN, Kan. – The North Dakota State men's golf team wrapped up the Wildcat Invitational on Tuesday, holding on to a strong second-place showing in the 15-team field.
The Bison, who shot even par for the tournament, finished only behind host Kansas State (-27) at the Colbert Hills Golf Course. North Dakota State finished eight shots ahead of Grand Canyon for third and 29 shots ahead of the closest Summit League opponent, Kansas City, who finished seventh overall.
Gavin Cronkhite led the way for the Bison on the final day, as he carded the only round in the 60s in the two-day event for NDSU, finishing round three with a -3 score of 69. Cronkhite had three birdies on the front nine, but was sitting at +1 through 11 holes before he carded four birdies and three pars over the final seven holes. He finished with seven birdies on the day and climbed five spots to finish in fifth overall at -5 for the week.
Ian Simonich, who started one shot behind Cronkhite to begin the day, fired an even-par round of 72 on the final day, moving up two spots to finish 10
th overall at -1. He carded a pair of early birdies on the day, but closed with two bogeys to fall from sixth overall late in the round. Simonich has finished in the top 20 in all three tournaments this season, including his shared medalist honors last week at the NDSU Fall Invitational.
Nate Deziel was next for the Bison on Tuesday, carding a +2 round of 74. Like Simonich, Deziel also started with a couple early birdies, but closed he front nine with a bogey and a double bogey before two more bogeys on the final two holes. He finished in 21
st in the 81-golfer field.
Nate Adams and
Brock Winter each carded rounds of 77 in the final round, wrapping the scoring for NDSU. Adams fell to a tie for 18
th, finishing at +3. Winter finished in a tie for 59
th at +14.
The Bison will have a week off before returning to action on September 26 and 27 at the Zach Johnson Invitational hosted by Drake at the Glen Oaks Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa.
