BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – It’s Championship time for the Minot State men’s golf team.

After playing in nine tournaments throughout the year, dating all the way back to the end of August, the NSIC Championship Tournament is finally here for the Beavers who head to Missouri for the three-day, 54-hole tournament at the Adams Pointe Golf Club.

The team tournament champion earns a berth to the NCAA Regional Tournament. Play begins Friday and continues with the second round on Saturday and the final round Sunday.

Minot State has already made the trip to Missouri this season to play at Adams Pointe, shooting rounds of 327 and 319 on the same course at the NSIC Preview Invitational.

Senior Andrew Makarchuk led the way in that event for the Beavers with a 14-over 158 and has led the way most of this season as he is averaging a team-best 75.8 strokes per round and has turned in three Top-10 finishes for the Beavers. That includes a career-best round of 70 back in October at the Yellowjacket Fall Invite hosted by Montana State Billings, along with a round of 71 at the Bemidji State Invite in September.

Also playing well is sophomore Joshua Tu who is No. 2 on the team with a 79.8 stroke per round average, and who just turned in his first career Top 10 shooting a 12-over 154 at the Augustana Spring Invitational to tie for sixth.

The Minot State men’s golf team has twice finished as high as fourth at the NSIC Championship (2013, 2017), and Minot State’s Kowan O’Keefe twice advanced beyond the championship and qualified for the NCAA Regional as an individual, in 2013 when he won the NSIC Individual Championship, and again in 2014.