With just over a month before the NCAA Championships, both the Men’s and Women’s Golf teams look to continue their strong play
Week two of spring season for the Gustavus Women’s Golf team began with a first place victory at the Wartburg Invitational in Iowa. Finishing up front with a two-day total stroke count of 648 (329-319), the Gusties managed to put 18 strokes between themselves and the second-place finisher. Senior Rachel Roberg ended fourth place overall with a two-day score of 160, leaving Sophomore Kali Griggs hot on her heels in fifth place with a two-day score of 161. First-year Katie Schenfeld finished just a point outside of Griggs and Roberg with a final score of 162. Roberg’s fourth place finish in Iowa led to her being named the MIAC Women’s Golf Athlete of the Week by the league coaches.
The weather was unfavorable throughout the weekend, yielding cold weather, wind and even mud at times. Clearly this wasn’t an issue for the Gusties; as Sophomore Amanda Johnson summed it up, “We [the golf team] are ‘mudders,’ We practice in this weather so we can compete in this weather.”
The girls began their spring season in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida over Spring Break in a dual meet against Flagler College. The team shot a 332 with Roberg pacing the team at 79 on the par-72 course.
Coming up on the Women’s Golf itinerary is the Carleton Invitational scheduled to take place at Stonebrook in Shakopee this weekend. The following week the Gusties will travel to Becker to participate in the Minnesota Championships against other teams from around the state.
The championship takes place at Pebble Creek Golf Course and will be held April 19 -20. Soon after, participants in the NCAA Championship will be selected and begin preparations for the national competition. Judging from their season so far, the Gusties could prove to be a true threat—formidable weather or not.
“I played nine holes in 39 degree weather today,” said Sophomore Kali Griggs. “But it’s
alright, [we’re] made for these sorts of conditions.”
On the men’s side, the Gusties’ last action was in Florida over Spring Break. The team finished three strokes behind invite victor Flagler College, a Division II school. Gustavus was led by Sophomore Ricky Copeland who shot a 73 on the course par of 72. Seniors Jordan Hawkinson and Kyle Rohlfs shot 74 and 79, respectively, while Sophomore Josh Curb turned in the fourth Gustie scorecard under 80 with a 77.
“Things went well down in Florida; we were able to play some of the best courses in Jacksonville including TPC Sawgrass numerous times,” said Senior Mark Stuckey. “I think we have a target on our backs this spring as we are ranked third nationally and are usually in contention at every tournament. I think we will have a good spring season and do our best to prepare for a grueling week at the national tournament.”
Gustavus’ top golfer, First-year Ajeetesh Sandhu, who was named as the Gustavus Athlete of the Month this fall, didn’t make the trip south for Spring Break. His 74.0 average is 0.7 better than Hawkinson’s and Rohlfs, Stuckey and Senior Eric Harris round out the top five.
As Stuckey alluded to, the Gusties are ranked third in the National Golf World/Nike Golf Division III Coaches’ poll, despite their loss down south. Gustavus is ranked behind first-ranked Methodist and second-ranked Huntington. Just like the men, the Gustavus women hold the third spot nationally as well.
The Gustie men head to Wartburg this weekend and will then host the Bobby Krig Invitational the next weekend in Le Sueur. After two consecutive weeks of competing in Collegeville, Gustavus will head to the NCAA Championships in Brasilton, GA. “We left the fall season on a high note winning the MIAC title, which automatically qualified our team for Nationals. We have great senior leadership as well as young talent which makes me really excited to get the season underway,” said Stuckey.
Photo By: Tim Kennedy