The Northern Iowa Panthers men’s and women’s golf teams opened their season earlier this week, competing at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in Sevierville, Tenn., hosted by Tennessee Tech University. In the first competition for both teams since October of 2019, taking place from Sunday, March 14 until Tuesday, March 16, the women finished in fifth place out of the 13 teams competing, while the men finished 11th out of 15 teams.

The standout golfer for the men was sophomore Griffin Parker. Out of the 77 golfers in the competition, Parker finished in fourth place. On a course with a par of 72 strokes, Parker shot 71 strokes, one below par, on days one and two. On day three, he capped off a fantastic opening competition by completing the course in 68 strokes, an impressive four strokes under par. Parker ended up six strokes under par for the competition.

The top performer for the women was Hannah Bermel. Bermel, a senior and the daughter of UNI men’s and women’s golf head coach John Bermel, tied for 13th place out of the 65 golfers in the women’s competition. Competing on a course with a par of 71 strokes, Bermel ended the contest averaging 76.6 strokes per day over the three days. finishing at a total of 17 strokes over par.

Eastern Kentucky was the overall team victor in the women’s tournament with a team score of 890, followed by Finlay, Western Carolina and Tusculum with UNI in fifth place with a team score of 937. The top three team finishes on the men’s side were Tennessee-Martin and Morehead State tied for first with 851 points and the host school Tennessee Tech finishing third with 853. The Panther men rounded out the day in 11th place with a score of 889.

The men’s team will be back in action on Monday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 23 when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to face off against the Missouri State Bears. The women will resume play on Tuesday, March 30 and Wednesday, March 31 in Carbondale, Ill. against the Southern Illinois Salukis. Both teams will then return home for a competition in Cedar Falls on Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11 before traveling to Omaha, Neb. to take on the University of Nebraska, Omaha in the regular season finale on Monday, April 12 and Tuesday, April 13.