Northern Michigan University’s Tyler Annala hits from the fairway on a playoff hole during the Flyer Fall Intercollegiate meet held in Lemont, Ill., on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy NMU)

LEMONT, Ill. — Westwood High School graduate and Northern Michigan University men’s golf senior Tyler Annala came oh so close to capturing a collegiate title before losing out on the second playoff hole on Tuesday in Illinois.

He was co-leader in the regulation 54 holes at the Flyer Fall Intercollegiate meet hosted by Lewis University on Monday and Tuesday.

He entered the third and final round at 2-over-par, then struggled to 7-over on his first nine holes of the third round. But he caught fire after that, carding four straight birdies on Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 to catapult him back into a share of the lead.

Making the turn to continue the round, after pars on holes 1 and 2, Annala bogeyed the par-4 third, but responded with a birdie on the par-4 fourth to keep a share of the lead with one hole to play.

He could’ve won outright with a birdie on the par-5 fifth, but settled for par to make a three-way playoff.

Annala would eventually lose on the second playoff hole to finish as runner-up, marking the best finish of his career and only his second career top-10 finish.

His 10 birdies over 54 holes are the fourth-most and his three-round score of 221 is the 10th-best three-round score in program history, beating his previous best three-round score by a single stroke.

“Tyler played incredible, he showed so much resiliency so much fight,” Northern head coach Ben Johnson said in an NMU Sports Information news release detailing the results. “He grinded it out (Tuesday).

“After a poor start (to his third round), he managed to scramble four birdies together and finish really strong to force a playoff.

“He did exactly what you needed to do; he didn’t show any nerves and played smart. He just got beat on a good putt.

“I couldn’t be prouder of him. He’s such a good player and such a good kid. He deserved to win, just came up short, but played outstanding golf.”

Teammates Levi Pennala, Brady Badker and Arthur Ylitalo finished in consecutive places, Pennala at 26-over and tied for 44th, Badker at 27-over and tied for 46th and Ylitalo at 28-over and tied for 48th. Ylitalo had the best third-round score of the trio at 6-over, including birdies on the par-3 second and par-5 fifth. Badker and Pennala both posted scores of 11-over in the third, with Badker carding a birdie on the par-4 eighth.

Teammate Harvey Ylitalo at 32-over and tied for 57th rounded out the Wildcats with a third-round score of 12-over. 

Women finish 8th

At the same tournament, the NMU women’s team finished eighth of nine women’s teams with a cumulative score of 1,007, or 143-over. Host Lewis won at 49-over and the GLIAC’s Davenport was 63-over to finish 1-2.

Maddy Martens was 17th at 27-over for three rounds, opening her last round with 7-over in her first six holes, but finished with a five-hole stretch where she shot 2-under with birdies on the par-3 seventh and par-4 10th.

Matching Martens for the team’s best score in the third round, Payton Donnelly was second on the team and tied for 23rd at 31-over. She carded her fourth birdie of the tournament Tuesday on the par-4 16th.

Abbie Pietila tied for 27th at 35-over, including 15-over in the final round with her lone birdie on the par-4 17th.

Aavra Relich tied for 41st at 50-over, including a final-round birdie on the par-4 ninth. Olivia Brill rounded out the NMU field, shooting 23-over for 69th. 

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