MITCHELL — After a hot start to the 2025 season, Dakota Wesleyan’s Connor Calahan has been named the NAIA and GPAC men’s golfer of the week.
Calahan, a junior from Flagstaff, Arizona, carded an impressive 5-under-par 211 over 54 holes to finish tied for third individually at the Blue River Classic at the Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, Nebraska. As the top NAIA golfer in the tournament, he shot rounds of 70, 72 and 69 over three days, finishing with 15 total birdies in the three rounds. DWU finished finished eighth as a team in the event.
Calahan also won the Mount Marty Invitational tournament at Hillcrest Golf Club and Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton to start the fall season, finishing as the only golfer in the two-day tournament under par through 36 holes. He shot 72 and 69 in two rounds to win by three shots over his teammate Dakota Munger, who took second place at even par.
Through five rounds, Calahan’s scoring average is 70.4 strokes. He had an adjusted stroke average of 76.1 in 25 rounds last season. He was an all-GPAC second-team performer last season for the Tigers, finishing fifth at the conference championships.
He is the first winner of the national player of the week award for this season.
Calahan and the Tigers are back in action on Sept. 22-23, at Tatanka Golf Course in Niobrara, Nebraska.
Marcus Traxler is the assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. A past winner of the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist award and the 2023 South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year, he’s worked for the newspaper since 2014 and covers a wide variety of topics. A Minnesota native, Traxler can be reached at [email protected].
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