Northern Michigan University men’s golfer Arthur Ylitalo tees off during a past Wildcats meet. (Photo courtesy of NMU)

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — The women’s and men’s golf teams at Northern Michigan University will travel together to each compete at the Flyer Spring Invitational to be held at Bolingbrook Country Club in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook and hosted by Lewis University.

Two rounds of play will be held today and Tuesday and includes a number of fellow Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams, along with multiple ones from Lewis’ Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Among the ranked teams at the meet will be Davenport, whose men are ranked No. 8 in the Midwest and women No. 11; Rockhurst, whose men are ranked No. 9; and Lewis, whose women are ranked No. 10.

Other schools with regional and national rankings for men, women or both at the meet include Wisconsin-Parkside, Purdue Northwest, Roosevelt, Quincy, Lewis, Illinois-Springfield, Maryville and Saint Louis.

The Bolingbrook course features scenic views, elevated tees, rolling fairways and seven lakes around the 18-hole layout, which includes a true par-3 island green and a 600-yard par-5.

Weather is expected to include temperatures in the high 60s each day with partly cloudy skies today and a 50% to 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon.

Northern fans can follow the Wildcats on Instagram at Nmu_Wildcat_Golf, on X at NMU_WildcatGolf and on Facebook at Northern Michigan University Wildcats.

In addition, visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s or women’s golf schedule for links to live scoring and a preview.

Both teams began their spring seasons at the Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff in Wesley Chapel, Florida, from March 3-5. A subsequent invite hosted by Saginaw Valley State in Kentucky was canceled two weeks ago.

For the men at Saddlebrook, freshman Jacob Daavettila had his own best collegiate finish, tying for fifth place in the men’s tournament.

He shot 5-over-par in his third and final round to finish at plus-12, just three strokes out of second place. His previous collegiate best — last fall — was 24-over.

Daavettila was joined by junior teammate Arthur Ylitalo for the best par-3 scoring in the field of 3.17 strokes for each of those holes.

As a men’s team, NMU finished fourth of six teams.

Northern freshman Harvey Ylitalo tied for 18th overall, with senior Brady Badker and sophomore Levi Pennala tying for 24th and Arthur Ylitalo and senior Tyler Annala tied for 28th. Annala is a Westwood High School graduate.

For the Wildcat women at Saddlebrook, as a team they finished sixth of eight teams, improving each day. NMU was 80-over-par in its opening round, 70-over for the second and 58-over for the final round.

Northern’s top four shooters were all within five places of each other, led by sophomore Abbie Pietila tying for 24th place with 48-over after a final-round 15-over. She led the Wildcats in par-4 scoring at 5.07 strokes for each of those holes while tying for second in birdies, third in pars and making the fewest double-bogeys or worse.

Freshman Aavra Relich was 27th at 51-over, sophomore Maddy Martens 28th at 54-over and junior Payton Donnelly 29th at 55-over.

Relich was the top Wildcat in par-3 scoring at 3.33 per hole, along with total birdies, pars and fewest bogeys, while Martens was No. 1 on the team in par-5 scoring at 5.25 and Donnelly second in birdies and fourth in pars.

Freshman Sara Hasse, who competed as an individual separate from the Wildcats team, was 37th at 85-over, while senior Gabriella Moreau was 39th at 87-over and sophomore Abby Luke, a Marquette graduate, was 42nd at 107-over.

At last year’s Flyer Spring Invite, Northern was eighth among a dozen teams at 117-over 693.

Hailey Bolander led NMU in a tie for 24th at 24-over 168 after a second-round 80.

Martens was 38th at 30-over 174, while Pietila tied for 48th with 36-over 180 and Moreau 55th with 46-over 190 competing as an individual.

For the men last year at the Flyer Invite, the Wildcats were 10th among 13 teams at 629, with Arthur Ylitalo leading the team in a tie for 22nd with a 10-over 154, while Annala tied for 30th with 12-over 156.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases previewing the meets. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.