Men's Golf 3/5/2026 2:30:00 PM Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

Jacob Daavettila Finishes Top-5 at Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff

WESLEY CHAPEL, Flo. -- 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. Daavettila opened his round with back-to-back birdies before dropping to +6 in a nine-hole stretch, but would bounce back and shoot -1 in his final seven holes to finish his day. 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+.

The Saddlebrook resort played as a 6,728-yard par-71 for the third consecutive day, with the field producing a scoring average of 80.47, the worst average of the week. 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, who entered today at +10 with rounds of +2 and +8, finished his week by shooting a +15 today to bring his three-day total to +25, finishing 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.

This concludes the 'Cats time in Florida, and the team will return to Marquette before a quick turnaround to Lexington, Kentucky, for the SVSU Spring Invitational on March 14 and 15.

Round Two

After an opening round +23, the 'Cats shot a second round +27, and were the only team to add strokes from rounds one to two.

Leading the way for the 'Cats was Jacob Daavettila, who shot a +4 with two birdies to bring his tournament total to +7, and is T5 as an individual. Daavettila opened his round +5 in his first nine holes before finishing his round -1, including firing home eight straight pars.

Harvey Ylitalo shot the third-best Wildcat round of the day at +8, and sits T8 as an individual at +10 for the tournament. Ylitalo carded ten pars.

The second-best Wildcat round of the day belonged to Levi Pennala, who shaved three strokes off his opening round +9 to shoot a second round +6, and sits T18 at +15 for the tournament. Pennala opened his round -1 thru six holes before a stretch of seven that saw him shoot +7.

Tyler Annala rounded out the team scoring at +9 for the day, giving him a two-round total of +19 to sit in 26th. Teammates Brady Badker (+12) and Arthur Ylitalo (+13) have two-day totals of +21 and +22 and sitting in 28th and 29th, respectively.

Round One

Chasing the top of the individual leader board after round one was the duo of Harvey Ylitalo and Jacob Daavettila, who finished round one at +2 and +3, good for T2 and 5th while just one and two strokes off the leader.

Ylitalo opened his round with a bogey on 16 before shooting +5 in his first eight holes. Ylitalo carded a par on the par-three sixth to open a stretch that saw him shoot -3 in his final 10 holes, finishing his day at +2 and one shot back of the lead.

Daavettila played consistently through his opening 11 holes, shooting -1 with three birdies before a bogey on 10. Daavettila was in the lead with with three holes to go in his round, but a bogey on 14 and double-bogey on his last led him to finish at +3 and two strokes back of the lead.

The rest of the team shot well also, as Arthur Ylitalo, Brady Badker, and Levi Pennala all shot +9, and Tyler Annala carded a +10.

Saddlebrook Resort played as a 6,728-yard par-71, with the field averaging a score of 80.17. The 'Cats led the field in par three scoring (+8, 3.33 avg.) and were second in par four scoring (+32, 4.48 avg.). NMUs 10 birdies and 57 pars were also both second-best among the field, and their 32 bogeys and 9 doubles+ were second-fewest and fewest.

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Players Mentioned

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

Tyler Annala
: 6' 0"; Senior

Brady Badker
: 5' 10"; Senior

Levi Pennala
: Sophomore

Arthur Ylitalo
: 5' 11"; Junior

Harvey Ylitalo
: Freshman

Jacob Daavettila
: Freshman

Northern Michigan University

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Jacob Daavettila Finishes Top-5 at Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff

Players Mentioned

Tyler Annala

Brady Badker

Levi Pennala

Arthur Ylitalo

Harvey Ylitalo