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

MARQUETTE — There’s been a change in dates for the Northern Michigan University golf teams at their upcoming conference championship tournaments.

The men had just a slight change, starting their Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference event one day later on Thursday of this week instead of Wednesday, but the women have moved up five days.

Originally the women’s GLIAC Championship was to be played next week, but now will start just a day after the men’s on Friday.

Both, though, will be played at the courses originally announced just a few miles from each other at the same resort in the Lower Peninsula community of Augusta, located between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

The men’s tourney takes place at Stoatin Brae Golf Course, part of the Gull Lake View Golf Resort, while the women’s is set for Stonehedge North, also at Gull Lake View.

Each event runs for three days, with all conference teams competing in an initial two-round stroke play the first two days. Then the field is cut to the top four teams for team match-play semifinals the afternoon of day 2 and match-play finals on day 3.

As of Monday afternoon, the weather forecast for Augusta shows a mixed bag — 70% chance of rain on Thursday and Saturday, but cloudy skies Friday and partly cloudy on Sunday. Temperatures will be from the mid-60s to mid-70s the first three days, then dipping into the high 40s by Sunday.

Today we’ll look at the men’s tournament opening Thursday.

The NMU men have only been able to get in one round of a tournament golf so far this month, the scheduled second day at the Upper Iowa Invitational in Waterloo, Iowa, on April 4.

But the Wildcats did get to play four rounds in March, three at the Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff in Wesley Chapel, Florida, in the first week of the month, plus one round — actually 27 holes — of the Flyer Spring Invite in suburban Chicago on March 30.

Most recently in Iowa, Northern finished seventh among a dozen teams in an 18-hole event after shooting a 34-over-par 322, just 10 strokes behind winner Quincy at 24-over and only four strokes behind third-place Mary (North Dakota) at 30-over.

NMU shone most on par-4s, fifth best in the field at 4.58 strokes on each of those holes, and while the Wildcats’ three birdies were fewest in the field, its 48 pars tied for the most with its 26 bogeys second least.

Showcasing that steady play was a tie for Northern’s best scores posted by junior Arthur Ylitalo and freshman Jacob Daavettila. They tied for sixth place overall with 6-over 78s, each getting a birdie and either 11 or 12 pars.

They were just four strokes behind the winning individual score of 74 and two strokes behind a trio tied for third at 76.

Freshman Harvey Ylitalo was next for NMU, tying for 15th with 80, while senior Brady Badker competed as an individual and despite being just two strokes worse than Harvey Ylitalo at 82, actually dropped all the way down to a tie for 30th.

Also for Northern, sophomore Levi Pennala shot 86, including a birdie, and Westwood graduate and Wildcats senior Tyler Annala was at 90.

At last year’s men’s GLIAC Championship, held at another Gull Lake View course, Bedford Valley, the Wildcats finished stroke play in eighth place out of 10 teams at 19-over 595, missing the top-four cut by 17 strokes.

They were also just 11 strokes out of sixth place while finishing nine strokes ahead of ninth-place Purdue Northwest and 10 ahead of last-place Lake Superior State.

Arthur Ylitalo led NMU, tying for 16th at 2-over 146, while Walter Ylitalo and Russel Sprecher were at 5-over 149, tied for 27th. Annala had a 7-over 151 to tie for 38th.

This year’s field is scheduled to include nine teams, with early favorites to be Grand Valley State, which is ranked No. 1 in the Midwest and No. 3 nationally in NCAA Division II, and Ferris State, Wayne State and Davenport, each ranked in the top 10 in the Midwest.

Stoatin Brae, a past GLIAC Championship host, sits at one of the highest points in Kalamazoo County, commanding panoramic views on its 6,742-yard length at par-71. It is described as wide open, windswept, and fast and firm.

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