Muleskinner

Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Dave Koop: UCM Athletics Yoder. [Click to enlarge]

Mules' golfer Justin Yoder only needed his freshman season to establish himself as the team's leader.

Yoder, a stocky sophomore business management major, was a 2006-2007 All-Central Region Team selection after helping the Mules to a third place finish at the NCAA-II Central Regional in Joplin, Mo.

As the Mules, who started thier season this past weekend at the Mustang Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., Yoder led the team being the top--performer for the entire tournament. As a team, the Mules finished the event second out of 17 teams.

He attributes his early success to "lots of practice."

"You have to have confidence in yourself, really," Yoder said. "To come out here as a freshman not knowing how good everyone else is going to be, the first tournament was an eye-opener. I won a lot of high school matches, and coming into college, it was just like, 'Wow.'"

Yoder's standout memory of last season was winning the individual championship and helping the Mules win the Arkansas Tech Invitational title. He later won the Washburn Invitational individual championship.

Yoder's strengths are his short game and driving ability. He can drive the golf ball 320 yards off the tee with accuracy.

"I hit the ball a little more than most people," Yoder said. "That tends to give me a little bit of an advantage on some of the longer courses."

Head coach Tim Poe said Yoder is amazingly long with his irons.

"He just hits it so far," Poe said. "He's got an incredible short game, too. So, when you combine length with a great short game, you're going to be a great player.

"A lot of times, you get guys that can hit it a long way, but they're not very accurate. He combines them both."

Yoder's desire for golf began at a young age. He grew up about 70 miles southeast of Warrensburg in Versailles, Mo. During high school, he built a lengthy resume playing for the Versailles High School golf team.

"I set many high school records, and I was district champion all four years," Yoder said. "I was conference medalist or champion three out of the four years and a two-time state champion and four-time All-State."

Continued...

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