Men's Golf 3/27/2026 9:04:00 AM Jack Belcher - Athletics Communications Assistant

PREVIEW: Men's Golf at Flyer Spring Invite

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Northern Michigan University men's golf team will head to Bolingbrook, Illinois, to compete in the Flyer Spring Invite at Bolingbrook Country Club. The 'Cats travel to Illinois to compete in the two-day tournament, hosted by Lewis, from Monday, March 30th to Tuesday, March 31st.

The field includes GLIAC foes Davenport (#8, #55), UW Parkside (#13, #87), Purdue Northwest (#28, #172), and Roosevelt (#29, #173) (Regional/National rankings based on 2025-26 ranking).

Other top Midwest teams in the tournament include: Rockhurst (#9, #60), University of Illinois Springfield (#15, #113), Quincy (#18, #128), and Lewis (#20, #134).

About the Course: Just an hour outside of Chicago in the picturesque village of Bolingbrook, the 18-hole championship golf course at Bolingbrook Golf Club offers golfers the chance to come test their hand at a beautiful design by Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest. As scenic as it is a joy to play, the course provides magnificent photo opportunities at every hole. Elevated tees, rolling fairways and seven lakes are scattered throughout the layout, which includes a true island green par 3 and 600-yard par 5.

Weather Report
As of writing, the weather in Boilingbrook on Monday calls for partly cloudy weather with temperatures in the high 60s. Tuesday calls for temperatures in the high 60s with a 57% chance of Scattered Thunderstorms in the afternoon. While the weather is ideal for golfing on Monday, there's a chance of suboptimal weather conditions persisting throughout Tuesday.

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Last Time Out
Freshman Jacob Daavettila led the Wildcats with his best career finish, finishing T5 at the Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff.

The first-year golfer shot a +5 on round three to finish with a three-day total of +12, just three strokes off of second place. This marked Daavettila's best tournament finish as a collegiate golfer, with his previous best a +24 at the final event of the fall season. Daavetilla, along with teammate Arthur Ylitalo, paced the tournament in par three scoring (3.17), T5 in par four scoring (4.33), T6 in total birdies (8), T7 in total pars (31), and recorded the second-fewest bogey's and doubles+.

As a team for the week, the 'Cats were second in par-three scoring (3.38), fourth in par-four scoring (4.61), fifth in par-five scoring (5.26), fourth in total birdies (26), third in total pars (161), and recorded the third and fourth fewest bogey's and doubles+, respectively.

The full live scoreboard from the tournament can be found at Scoreboard by Clippd.

Harvey Ylitalo, finished T18 among the field. Harvey finished second on the team in par five scoring (5.22), total pars (29), bogeys, and doubles+.

Brady Badker and Levi Pennala both finished T24 at +29 with third round scores of +8 and +14, while Arthur Ylitalo and Tyler Annala finished T28 with matching tournament scores of +33.

Davenport took the team title, shooting a three-day total of +35, followed by Saginaw Valley (+53) in second, Kentucky Wesleyan (+64) in third, and NMU in fourth. Caden Kwan of Davenport claimed the individual title with his tournament total of +4, while there was a three-way tie for second with Chen-Shiuan Wu (Davenport), Garrett Morrison (Saginaw Valley), and Justin Grimard (Davenport) all at +9.

Previously at The Flyer Fall Intercollegiate
Last season, the NMU men's golf team finished in 6th place of 8 teams (307, 315 - 622).

The team produced some well-rounded scores after day one, as they sat 17 strokes behind the leaders. The tournament concluded on Saturday with respectable rounds from the 'Cats.
Walter Ylitalo (75, 81 - 156) took the Wildcat second-place spot in T17, Tyler Annala (79, 79 - 158) locked down a tie for T25th overall.
The team played the par 5's better than everyone but Drury, averaging a 5.13. Drury won the meet at +6 overall and 582 strokes.

Notes on The Field -
Davenport

Davenport has had a strong start to their season as they most recently finished third out of fourteen teams at the SVSU Men's Invitational. Previously, they finished first out of six teams at The Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff in March.
So far this season, they have been led by Cayden Kwan, who won the Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff and finished second overall at The SVSU Invitational.

UW Parkside

UW Parkside finished ninth out of fourteen teams at the SVSU Men's Invitational to begin their Spring season.
Parkside so far has been led by Aleck Simms and Shane Stanley, who finished 21st and 23rd, respectively, at the SVSU Invitational.

Purdue NW

Purdue NW opened its season by finishing seventh out of fourteen teams at the SVSU Invitational.
So far this season, Purdue NW has been led by Maxwell Abel, who finished sixth at the SVSU Invitational.

Roosevelt

In the SVSU Invitational, Roosevelt tied for tenth out of fourteen teams. To open their season, they finished twelfth out of seventeen teams at the Pawleys Island Beach Bash.
Roosevelt has been led by Lucas Faubert, who finished sixth overall at the SVSU Invitational.

Rockhurst

Rockhurst tied for sixth out of thirteen teams at the Maverick Desert Classic to open its season.
Rockhurst has been led by Kingston Solomon and Bryce Renz (who competed as an independent) as both finished tied for first at the Maverick Desert Classic.

University of Illinois Springfield

University of Illinois Springfield finished in fifth out of ten teams at the Las Vegas Warrior Men's Invitational to open their season
UIS has been led by Julien Babineau and Jake Baldwin, who finished twelfth and fourteenth, respectively, in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Quincy

Quincy also opened its season at the Las Vegas Warrior Men's invite, where it finished fourth out of ten teams.
Quincy has been led by David Gartrell, who finished third overall at the Las Vegas Warrior Invite.

Lewis

Lewis opened their season at the Pawleys Island Beach Bash, where they finished in sixth place out of seventeen teams.
Lewis has been led by Ty Doty, Gabriel Delaval, and Jann Atendido, all of whom finished tied for 19th at the Beach Bash.

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Players Mentioned

Walter Ylitalo: 5' 11"; Senior

Tyler Annala: 6' 0"; Senior

Brady Badker: 5' 10"; Senior

Levi Pennala: Sophomore

Arthur Ylitalo: 5' 11"; Junior

Harvey Ylitalo: Freshman

Jacob Daavettila: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Walter Ylitalo
: 5' 11"; Senior

Tyler Annala
: 6' 0"; Senior

Brady Badker
: 5' 10"; Senior

Levi Pennala
: Sophomore

Arthur Ylitalo
: 5' 11"; Junior

Harvey Ylitalo
: Freshman

Jacob Daavettila
: Freshman