BU cruises to third-straight NSAA title with 1-under second round
Alex Zillig won the individual title and helped the Bruins win their third-straight (fifth overall) NSAA Tournament crown as a team.
ALBERT LEA, Minn. -- Rodrigo Navarrete and Hugo Brandt each shot 1-under as the Bellevue University men's golf team, led by individual champion Alex Zillig, won its third-straight North Star Athletic Association Men's Golf Championship, taking home the top four spots in the individual standings.
NSAA Championships:
Location: Albert Lea, Minn.
Host: Waldorf University & North Star Athletic Association
Course: Wedgewood Cove Golf Club
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,810
Teams: 6
Golfers: 30
Recap:
The Bruins entered the day 24 strokes ahead of Waldorf before turning in the best team round of the tournament. Bellevue's 287 (-1) was eight strokes better than their first round total as they finished 6-over for the event, 52 strokes ahead of second-place Waldorf.
Waldorf (+58), Viterbo (+59), and Dickinson State (+60) finished tightly bunched in positions 2-through-four. Valley City finished fifth at 122-over and Dakota State rounded out the field at 181-over.
Alex Zillig began the day three strokes ahead of Waldorf's Thomas Houdayer who slipped to a 77 to finish in fifth place. Zillig carded a 1-over 73 to finish the tournament at 1-under (143) to earn Individual Medalist honors.
With this, Bellevue took home the top four spots in the individual standings. Behind Zillig were teammates Rodrigo Navarrete (145, +3), Hugo Brandt (147, +5), and Hugo Ronnberg (147, +5). Navarrete and Brandt fired 1-under rounds on the day while Ronnberg carded an even par 72.
All four Bruin golfers earned first team all-NSAA honors for their performances while Navarrete was voted the league's Golfer of the Year for the second-straight year. Additionally, coach Rob Brown was voted NSAA Coach of the Year for the fifth time; it was the ninth time overall that coach Brown took home conference Coach of the Year honors after winning the award four times in the MCAC.
Notes:
Zillig becomes the fifth different BU golfer to win an individual title at the conference championships, joining Jose Vega (2013, 2015), Mike Hannon (2014), Diego Gudino (2016, 2017), and Andre Becerra (2018, 2019, 2021) to accomplish the feat.
For Bellevue, it is the program's fifth title since joining the North Star for the 2015-16 season and ninth overall.
With the victory, the Bruins secure the NSAA's lone automatic bid to the 2022 NAIA Men's Golf National Championships to be held from Tuesday-Friday, May 17-20 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.
BU will make their ninth NAIA National Championship appearance next month. Their highest finish came in 2013 when they placed third and last year they finished seventh overall.
Up Next:
The Bruins will compete in the NAIA National Championship on May 17-20 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.