The grand valley State University men’s golf team looked to be back in form after the first round of the GLIAC North Invitational at Hawks Head Golf Course in South Haven, Mich.

“We entered this tournament really focused, (and) you can credit that to our first round scores we
posted,” junior Jack Rider said. “Everyone seemed to be in groove during the first day.”

The Lakers posted a first round team score of 288, just two strokes out of first place.

“I thought that we felt really comfortable after our first round performance,” sophomore Tyler Polulak
said. “It was great for us to be able to establish some momentum against a group of GLIAC teams.”

Senior Chris Cunningham awoke from a minor slump to post a 71 (-1) for the first round of the
tournament. Cunningham’s six birdies put him in great condition to contend on Sunday.

“I was able to birdie every par 5 I attempted, so that always helps,” he said. “It felt good to finally post
a good score after struggling earlier this season.”

Senior Joel Seigel and Polulak posted even scores of 72 on the first day of the tournament to help the
Laker cause.

After a strong first round, the Lakers struggled once again to put two complete rounds together, as
they finished fifth among the field of all 12 GLIAC teams.

“I can’t really pinpoint one thing to why we struggled on day two of this tournament,” Cunningham
said. “We simply just played mediocre, which isn’t going to cut it against the type of competition that
we are going up against.”

Thus far, GVSU has struggled to find consistency within the team, which is leaving it in search for
answers.

“I really don’t know what else we can do at this point to get things going in the right direction,”
Polulak said. “Another week of practice will hopefully put us at where we need to be.”

It may be close to panic time for the men’s golf team as it is nearing closer to the GLIAC conference
championships, which is becoming more important as GVSU has yet to record a standout win this fall
season.

“I wouldn’t say we are panicking yet, but it’s definitely becoming more of an urgency to somewhat fix
things before it’s too late,” Cunningham said.

After taking home the super regionals title the past two years, the Lakers are striving just to make the
cut and hope they can make crucial mid-season adjustments to keep their season afloat.

“We are going to have a qualifier to see if anyone else on our roster can step up,” Cunningham said.
“When it comes down to it, it’s on me and our other upperclassmen who have been here before to get
the job done.”

GVSU’s men’s golf team has a week to tweak its play before it heads to Chicago for the Great Lakes
Region fall invitational.

[email protected]