Johnson Wins Individual Title, and NDSU Wins the Team at Torrey Pines
March 27, 2024
BECKER, Minn. -- Ryan Peterson is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. He has played in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Championships four times, and he's had about as impressive a progression as possible.
When he was a freshman, he finished fifth. As a sophomore, he was fourth. He then won the conference championship by four strokes over teammate Joey Cummings as a junior with three consecutive rounds of even-par 72 at Pebble Creek Golf Club. Last weekend, he improved on that, by posting a 54-hole aggregate of 5-under 211 (74-69-68) -- and winning the conference individual title by 14 strokes!
In the process, he helped Wisconsin-Superior win the team championship by 63.
Brady Raph of Minnesota-Morris closed with a 75 and finished second in the individual standings, although he was barely a speck in Peterson's rearview mirror at 225. The Yellowjackets' Cummings, who like Peterson, is a senior from Duluth East, ended up third at 227. He was named the UMAC Player of the Year for 2020-21.
The University of Northwestern's Noah Johnson claimed fourth with an aggregate of 231.
Superior's winning score was 912. The University of Northwestern was second at 975, and Bethany Lutheran was another 20 back in third at 995.
Golf was not Peterson's first choice for a sport after high school. He played one year of Junior Hockey with the Minnesota Wilderness in the North American Hockey League, before enrolling at Wisconsin-Superior.
There wasn't much suspense in the final round. Peterson started off six ahead of Cummings and eight ahead of Raph, and he birdied Pebble Creek's second hole, a 505-yard par 5. He concluded the front nine with a 36, after making a bogey at the par-4 eighth (415 yards), at which point he was still eight ahead of Raph, and 10 ahead of Cummings, who shot 40 on the front nine.
Peterson created even more separation between himself and everyone else with a back-nine 32. He birdied the 11th hole (365 yards, par 4) and made three in a row at the 15th (400, par 4), 16th (556, par 5) and 17th (210, par 3) on his way to 68.
By winning the conference team championship -- for the third year in a row -- Wisconsin-Superior earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championships, May 11-14 on the Arnold Palmer Course and Robert Trent Jones, Sr., Course at Speidel Golf Club in Wheeling, W.Va.
MEN'S COLLEGE GOLF
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Championships
At Pebble Creek Golf Club
Par 72, 6,872 yards
March 6, 2024
March 6, 2024
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