SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Sioux Falls Men's Golf Team, which has a pair of top six finishes to open the fall season, will compete at the Missouri Southern State Fall Invite at the Shangri-La Golf Club and Resort in Monkey Island, Okla., on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 23-24). The Cougars will also compete at the Augustana Invitational on Sept 28-29  at the Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls.

The Cougars will play 36 holes on Monday beginning at 8:30 a.m. The second round on Monday will start at about 2 p.m.

The Cougars, which finished fifth in the NSIC Championship last spring, has opened with a pair of strong performances with a third place finish at the Watkins Invite and tied for sixth at the Bemidji State Invitational. Through two competitions, USF ranks fourth in the NSIC in round average at 299.2. JJ Cooney is eighth among individuals at 72.5 per round (290 shots) while sophomore Jack Evans is 10^th at 73.5 (294 shots).

Cooney leads USF to third place finish to open season at Watkins Invite
JJ Cooney shot a program-NCAA DII best 140 (71-69) and won a two-hole playoff to claim his first individual title while leading USF to a third place finish at the Watkins Invitational at the Jewel Golf Club on Sept. 5-7. The Cougars, which had career-best marks from Cooney, Jack Evans, Blake Berry and Nathan Woodall, carded a USF DII-program-best two-round total of 583. USF not only carded the best second day total at the tournament but set a program 18-hole round mark with a 285. The Cougars opened with a 298 and then came in with a three-under par total of 285 to finish third with a seven-over par 583. The Cougars finished only behind team champion Winona State, which had an eight-under 568 (278-290), and second place Washburn at 573 (287-286). The third place finish was the team's top overall mark since taking third this past spring at the Upper Iowa Spring Invite on March 30-31, 2019. Cooney, a three-time All-NSIC performer from Pickstown, S.D., was named USF's Player to Watch in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll and showed it at the Watkins Invitational. He won the tournament in a two-hole playoff with Dylan Brown (68-72) and Brady Madsen (66-74), who also finished with a four-under par total of 140. In setting the DII-program low, Cooney bettered the mark of fellow senior and teammate Brenden Bassing, who carded a 141 (73-68) at the Bemidji State Invite on Sept. 11-12, 2017. In fact, Cooney improved his two-round best by five shots as he had a 145 (70-75) at the NSIC Preview Invite on April 5-6, 2019 at Shoal Creek in Kansas City, Mo. USF was able to set the program's best single round and two-round totals because every member of the team improved their scores from day one to day two. Aside from Cooney, sophomore Jack Evans had a career-best two-round total of 145 (75-70) to finish in a tie for ninth. He finished one over par after rounds of 75 and 70. 
Senior Blake Berry also made substantial improvement from day one as he moved up seven spots to a tie for 16^th by following his opening day 75 with a career-best round of 72 and a three-over par total of 147. Berry's total was an improvement of his previous best mark by 12 shots. He shot a previous best of 159 (79-80) at the Augustana Invitational on Sept. 29-30, 2018. Sophomore Nathan Woodall was another team member who shattered his previous best two-round total. He finished in a tie for 20^th with a four-over par total of 148 (75-73), which bettered his previous mark of 157 (76-81) at the BSU Invitational on Sept. 10, 2018. He opened with a 75 and closed at 73, which bettered his previous best round of 75 at the NSIC Preview Invitational on April 6, 2019. 

Both junior Jacob Zosel and senior Brenden Bassing improved from day one totals to aid USF's cause. They both carded 152s and earned ties at 33^rd. Bassing, who opened with a 79, shot a 73 on day two and finished eight over par while moving up 16 spots. Zosel opened with a 77 and had a 75 on day two for his eight-over par total.
 
Cougars take sixth at BSU Invite as Evans finishes T-11th
Led by sophomore Jack Evans (T-11^th), the University of Sioux Falls Men's Golf Team finished in a tie for sixth place at the Bemidji State Invitational which concluded Tuesday at the Bemidji Town & Country Club. Evans finished the tournament as the top-ranked Cougar at a tie for 11^th as he carded a two-day total of 149 (+4 to par, 76-73), which is the second best outing in his collegiate career (75-70-145, Watkins Invite). Evans, who jumped from an opening day total of 76 to 73 led the Cougars to a team total of 614 (308-306). USF was tied with Manitoba, which had a 614 with rounds of 313 and 301. During the rainy first round on Monday, the Cougars carded a 308. On Tuesday, the Cougars were able to finish two strokes better than Monday and recorded a team score of 306. Minot State won the team title as they finished with a total of 588 (295-293) which was just three strokes better than the second place team and host, Bemidji State at 585 (296-295). In the tourney, the third through fifth place teams were all separated by four strokes, with Concordia-St. Paul claiming third at 602 (305-297). Concordia-Moorhead finished two strokes behind the Golden Bears at 604 (304-300) and edged St. Cloud State, which carded a 605 (304-301). Aside from Evans, senior JJ Cooney finished six-over par, 150 (75-75) for a 14th place tie and has shot 75 or better in all four rounds this season. Golfing as an individual, senior Blake Berry finished with a two-day total of 153 (80-73) to earn a tie for 23rd. He opened with an 80 and improved on day two by seven strokes as he carded a 73, which was his second best total of the season (72, round two, Watkins Invite). Senior Brenden Bassing had a total of 75 in the first round, but tallied a total of 83 in the second round to finish 35th as he shot a 14-over par, 158. Rounding out the Cougars were sophomore Nathan Woodall and junior Jacob Zosel, who had tournament totals of 161 (84-77) and 163 (82-81), respectively. Both Woodall and Zosel made improvement from day one to day two. Woodall lowered his round from 84-to-77 while Zosel cut one shot off his total as he had an 82 followed up with an 81.

Cougars picked fifth in the NSIC
After working through a solid preseason, the Cougars will tee off at the Watkins Invitational Friday morning. USF will be led by NSIC "Player to Watch" JJ Cooney, a senior from Pickstown, S.D., who became USF's first ever three-time All-NSIC selection last spring. In the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll released this fall, USF received 45 vote points and finished just two points behind Bemidji State at 47. USF jumped up 12 vote points from a year ago when the Cougars were tabbed seventh with 33 points.

Winona State was the league favorite with six of 10 first place votes and 77 points. Concordia St. Paul earned two first place votes and 71 points for second in the preseason poll while Minnesota State had one first place vote and 69 points. BSU, which finished just ahead of USF for fourth, had one first place vote with its 47 vote points. 

Individual notes
Cooney ranks eighth in the NSIC through four rounds of play with 72.5 average on 290 strokes.  Cooney shot a program-NCAA DII best 140 (71-69) and won a two-hole playoff to claim his first individual title while leading USF to a third-place finish at the Watkins Invitational at the Jewel Golf Club in Lake City, Minn., to open the 2019 season.  He was 14^th at the Bemidji State Invite with a 150 (75-75). A year ago, Cooney, a three-time All-NSIC performer, was eighth in the NSIC with a per round average of 74.65 with 1,493 shots on 20 rounds. He finished a season best second at the Polar Vortex Triangular on March 8 in Scottsdale, Ariz.  In his career Cooney has had 14 top-10 finishes, one title and a sixth-place finish at the NSIC Championships in April, 2018. Cooney's career-best round was a 68 as a freshman at the Upper Iowa Spring Invite (fifth – 168 – 68-84) on April 1-2, 2017.   He shot a career-best two-round total of 145 (71-74) at the BSU Invite on Sept. 10-11, 2017. At the Lindenwood Invite, he carded a three-round total of 220 with the 75-74-71 three rounds performance.  

Evans had a career-best two-round total of 145 (75-70) to finish in a tie for ninth at the Watkins Invite to open the 2019-20 season. He finished one over par after rounds of 75 and 70. At the BSU Invite, he claimed a team-best 11^th place as he carded a 149 (76-73). Through four rounds, Evans ranks 10^th in the NSIC with a 73.5 average. In 20 rounds as a freshman, Jack Evans, now a sophomore, registered an average of 78.00 with a total shot total of 1,560 in 2018-19. He finished 36^th at the NSIC Championship in April 18-20, 2019 with a three round total of 239 (79-85-75) for 36^th place. He shot a career-low 69 at the Upper Iowa Invite on March 30-31 when he was tied for eighth at 153 (84-69).  

As a sophomore Jacob Zosel had some big moments for the Cougars. Now a junior, Zosel has a season-best 152 (77-75) for 33^rd place at the Watkins Invite. He is averaging 78.75 per round on 315 shots through four rounds. He is is coming off a season when he shot 20 rounds with a total score of 1,548 or a 77.40 average. At the 2019 NSIC Championship, he had a strong effort with a 234 (77-81-76) and was 27^th. Six times a year ago, he had a 76 or lower with a best of 70 in round two of the Upper Iowa Invite on March 31, 2019. He shined at the 2018 NSIC Championships as he carded a 10-over 226 (79-74-73) for ninth place and gave USF two top-10 finishes (Cooney, 6^th) for the second time at the NSIC Championships. In 2018-19, Zosel had a career-best second-place finish and career-best two-round total of 144 (69-75), at the Bemidji State Invitational. Zosel finished with his highest placing ever and his second career top-10 finish. After opening with a career-best 69 in the first round, Zosel finished with a 75 as he finished in a tie with four others for second and just two strokes off the lead.  At the LIndenwood Invite, he finished in 232 (72-82-78), which was his best three-round total of the year. He also placed 27^th at the 2019 NSIC Preview Invitational by carding a 151 (78-73), which was his second best total of the season.

Senior Brenden Bassing has opened the season with a 77.50 round average through two tournaments. He had a season-best 152 (79-73) at the Watkins Invite and finished 33^rd. In the second competition at the BSU Invite, he was 35^th with a 158 (75-83). A year ago, he shot 20 rounds with a 1,539 shots for a 76.95 average during his junior season a year ago. At the NSIC Championships in 2019, Bassing carded a three-round total of 225 (79-73-73) for 11^th place. Over the final four meets of the season, he shot 79 or lower 9-of-10 rounds. He had the second-best performance of his career with a 144 (74-70) and placed a season-best sixth at the NSIC Preview Invitational at the Shoal Creek Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo.  Bassing had one top-10 finish in 2018-19 as he was tied for ninth at the Augustana Invitational after carding a 150 (75-75). He has a low round of 73 (73-82-155) on Sept. 10, 2018 at the BSU Invitational. Bassing has a career-best round (second round) of 68 (73-68-141) when he carded a career-best 141 at the BSU Invite on Sept. 11-12.  Five times he has shot a round of 72 or better in his career.

Senior Blake Berry finished in a tie for 16^th by following his opening day 75 with a career-best round of 72 and a career-best three-over par total of 147 at the Watkins Invite. Berry's total was an improvement of his previous best mark by 12 shots. He shot a previous best of 159 (79-80) at the Augustana Invitational on Sept. 29-30, 2018. At the BSU Invite, he carded a 153 (80-73) as he was 23^rd. Berry has an average round score of 75.0 on 300 shots in four rounds. A year ago, he shot 14 rounds and totaled 1,140 shots for an 81.43 per round average. He had a best placement of 11^th at the Polar Vortex Triangular when he carded an 82.  

Sophomore Hank Eggebraaten is coming off a strong freshman campaign. He carded his career-best two-round total of 157 (79-78) at the Augustana Invitational on Sept. 29-30, 2018 when he placed 26^th of 52 golfers. He shot a career-low 78 in the second round of that tourney. He has his best placement of 18^th at the Polar Vortex Triangular on March 8 when he carded an 84. Through five rounds this season, he had 408 shots and a per round average of 81.60. He had a 167 (86-81) and finished 87^th at the NSIC Preview Invitational in Kansas City on April 5-6, 2019 .

Sophomore Jake Oetzmann also opened his career at USF with a solid season. As a freshman, he shot 13 rounds and 1,040 shots for an average round of 80.00. He placed eighth at the Polar Vortex Triangular on March 8 with a round of 80. He carded his career-low two-round total of 150 (75-75) at the NSIC Preview Invitational on April 5-6 in Kansas City. With 75 in both rounds of the preview meet Oetzmann set a career best for a round. At the NSIC Championship on April 18-20, 2019, he finished in a tie for 33^rd with a three-round total of 236 as he carded rounds of 82, 80 and 74.

Sophomore Nathan Woodall shattered his previous best two-round total by finishing in a tie for 20^th at the Watkins Invite on Sept. 5-7. He carded a four-over par total of 148 (75-73), which bettered his previous mark of 157 (76-81) at the BSU Invitational on Sept. 10, 2018. He opened with a 75 and closed at 73, which bettered his previous best round of 75 at the NSIC Preview Invitational on April 6, 2019. He is averaged 77.25 through two tournaments this season.