Records fall as Mustangs rally for Siouxland Invite championship

SIOUX CENTER/ORANGE CITY, IOWA – Landsmeer Golf Club has been the site of many a Morningside University men's golf program-best.

Head coach Nick Wanderscheid's 2021-22 squad added two more Tuesday, Sept. 14. 

Riding the red-hot play of senior Xan Milligan (Hexham, England), the Mustangs fired off a 275 over the final 18 of the Siouxland Invitational. The total tied the 2018-19 team's mark at the Northwestern College Red Raider Cup. Milligan reset the 36-hole individual low score mark, winding up at 134 to eclipse senior teammate Sam Storey (Surrey, England) and his 135 at last fall's Northwest Iowa Invitational. He did so by going 69 at The Ridge Golf Course in Sioux Center Monday, Sept. 13, and 65 at Landsmeer, with the 65 being the second-lowest 18-hole score in program history. 

"It just seems like we are a little more comfortable playing at Landsmeer," Wanderscheid said. "It's hard to tell. I do know all of the guys were firing on all cylinders in the final round. We had five shots to make up on an excellent Iowa Western team, and we did.

"We talked early Tuesday about one simple thing – not playing too recklessly in going for birdies and eagles but just play clean," he added. "They just went out, managed the course well, and played their game." 

Storey was also part of the individual first 10. His 141 left him sixth. Freshman Mason Weeks (Spirit Lake, Iowa) and senior Jonny Douglas (Newcastle upon Tyne, England) were added into the top 15, with Douglas firing a 69 on the final day to get to his 144 and tie Weeks for 13^th.

"This tournament was big from a confidence standpoint for the fall season," Wanderscheid noted. "We were able to see ourselves get some separation from the other Great Plains Athletic Conference schools, too." 

Morningside's men wrap up the pre-GPAC Fall Championship section schedule Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 20 and 21, at the Northwest Iowa Invitational in LeMars.