To say the Grand Valley State University men’s golf team was disappointed following their sixth-place finish in the Midwest/South Central Regional on Wednesday at Jefferson City Country Club in Missouri would be an understatement.

With a total team score of 23 over par – 887 – to finish three strokes behind St. Edward’s University, the Lakers narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Championship.

“[We’re] just disappointed,” said senior Travis Shooks. “We were right there the whole time. It’s not like we played bad, we just fell a few shots short. We went in knowing that there was quite a few good teams and that we had to play well to shoot a good score.”

The University of Central Missouri claimed first place with a score of 864, even par for the tournament. Washburn University finished second, scoring 876, while the University of Central Oklahoma was just a stroke behind in third place. Coming in fourth was the University of Indianapolis at 880, while St. Edward’s rounded out the top five, with each team advancing to the national championship.

Shooks led the Lakers and ended in a tie for 10th on the individual leaderboard. His total score of 218 was hindered by his struggles on the final day, which saw him shoot a 77, five-over par.

Fellow senior Nick Gunthorpe tallied his lowest score of the regional on the final day with a 69 and junior Chase Olsen also recorded his tournament-low score, shooting a 74.

“We didn’t make enough birdies in the last two rounds,” said GVSU head coach Don Underwood. “That is probably the biggest difference between the teams that got in and us. We just needed to make more birdies.”

While GVSU saw more bogies than accustomed to throughout the three-round event, play started off great for the Lakers.

Following a 68, Shooks was in a tie for the individual lead after day one. Siegel shot a 74 to support the solid round turned in by his teammate, while Gunthorpe carded a 76. Olsen and Cunningham each recorded a 78 for the round, giving the Lakers a team total of 296, setting them in a tie for third place.

Day two saw a little bit of a drop-off for GVSU as a whole, but still had some individual improvements.

Shooks carded a 73 to lead the Lakers, dropping him to third place among the individual leaders. While Shooks regressed, though, Gunthorpe and Cunningham saw improvement, each shooting 74.

Meanwhile, Olsen also recorded a better score, shooting a 75, but Siegel dropped a couple back with a 76. Another team score of 296 in the second round left the Lakers in fifth-place at 592, 16-over par.

Overall, the team’s sixth-place finish was equivalent to their spot last year.

“One of the big differences was this year, we didn’t play well enough, but I thought we still played well,” Underwood said. “Going into the last round we were right in the mix. Last year, we had a pretty comfortable situation and didn’t play well. I think that leaves a hollow feeling and unfortunately in golf, sometimes that happens.”

The back-to-back years of heartbreak could be an easy stepping-stone for doubt to set in, but with only three athletes graduating and an abundance of talent coming back, the hope is to take that next step toward the national stage.

“We have four of us coming back for next year — Jack Rider, myself, Chris Olsen and Chris Cunningham,” Siegel said. “All four of us have gotten the experience this year that will benefit us. I look at Gunthorpe and Shooks and they have paved the way of how hard we need to work. We are always shooting to win and will continue what they left.”

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