The Men’s golf team began its spring season on March 27, traveling to Montgomery, Alabama to compete in the Wynlakes intercollegiate invite. The invite presented challenging competition for the Gusties, including five top-ten ranked teams. Some of the main standouts were No. 1 ranked Huntingdon College and No. 2 ranked University of Texas at Tyler.
“We played a little tight which is not unusual this time of year, but we need to make more out of our misses and take advantage of some good shots.” — Coach Moe
The Wynlakes course proved to be challenging for the team, as after day one of the invite, the Gusties held 11th place out of 15 teams. The golfers who competed at this invite included Seniors Alex Koopmeiners and Sam Majka, Juniors Alec Aunan and Chris Captain, Sophomore Max Savini, and Freshman Ben Hauge.
“I thought we would have been a little sharper than we were today,” Head Coach Scott Moe said. “It is certainly a different feel from practice to competition. We played a little tight which is not unusual this time of year, but we need to make more out of our misses and take advantage of some good shots.”
The team was pleased however with some standout golfers who scored well individually. Par was set at 72 for the 36-hole Wynlakes Country Club course. Aunan hit a team low of 73, leaving him tied for 10th place overall. Captain and Koopmeiners tied for 23rd place with a score of 75.
“I saw some good things,” Moe said. “Alec played really solid, Chris and Koopmeiners put together good scores, but overall we need to be better tomorrow, and I know we will be.”
This confidence from Moe was backed up in the second day of competition as the Gusties improved in the standings from 11th to 9th place.
“I saw some good things out there but we were not as sharp as we have to be. We battled hard and the effort was there, it just didn’t come together.” — Coach Moe
“We got after the start I was looking for,” Moe said. “We were under par through five or six holes. Then on hole 18 we played 11 over par which derailed us for the rest of the round.”
Despite the strong start from the team on the second day, it wasn’t enough to catch up to the leading teams at the invite. Coach Moe and the team are hoping to learn and improve from their experience at this invite.
“I saw some good things out there but we were not as sharp as we have to be. We battled hard and the effort was there, it just didn’t come together,” Moe said.
After a second place finish at the MIAC Championships during the fall season, the team looks to build on its skill in invites leading up to the NCAA tournament. The Gusties have a long break before they are back in action April 23-24 at the Bobby Krig Invite.