The Simpson men’s golf team took the weather conditions head-on last weekend at Central’s Bos Landen Golf Club.

“I encouraged them to play and not worry about the weather,” said Head Coach Larry Shoop. “And they did that.”

The men started play on Friday with 10 other teams, including some of Simpson’s more notorious competition: Central, Wartburg, Buena Vista and Loras.

The team finished the day off in sixth place, but it wouldn’t stop there.

The Storm returned on Saturday fighting the same weather conditions, but would prove that the team could play through them. The men finished the day tying for fourth place with Central White (493), only 18 strokes behind the leader, Central (475).

“As a team we did better than most people would have thought,” said senior Josh Luehmann. “Second highest out of the conference behind Central.”

Sophomore Andy English finished the Central Invitational at the top of Simpson’s roster by placing ninth individually and a score of 122.

Luehmann and sophomore Mike Martin were right behind English, both placing 14th individually. Junior Matt Zeller rounded the team out by finishing twentieth with a score of 125.

“I’m very proud of the gentlemen, their pre-season work coupled with the mental tenacity, both played big factors,” said Shoop. “They had very positive attitudes and their willingness to go for it was incredible.”

“We want to compete in every meet and be in the top three or four each meet out of 10 to 15 teams that will be there,” said Martin. “When conference comes, we want to be playing our best golf and be able to beat Central, who is usually the best.”