The Gustavus Women’s Golf Team competed at the MIAC Championships last weekend and finished in sixth place overall as a team.
After a sixth place finish at the St. Kate’s Invite one week earlier, the Gusties traveled to Becker, Minnesota to compete in the 54-hole Conference Championships hosted by Pebble Creek Golf Club.
The tournament took place Saturday through Monday, September 28-30.
The Gusties were looking for their first MIAC Title since 2010, when they finished first as a team and had the top individual golfer at the event.
On the first day of competition, a trio of sophomores led the Gusties in scoring.
Emily Kratz led the Gusties with a 79 (+7) and was tied for ninth place individually, while Sydney Regalado carded an 80 (+8) that was good for 13th place and Erin Ericson shot an 82 (+10) that left her in a tie for 18th place.
First-year Hannah Hubbart rounded out the scoring Gusties with a 91 (+19).
The Gusties sat in sixth place as a team after the first round with a combined score of 332. St. Kate’s led all teams with a team total of 312.
“We need to do a better job of eliminating the big holes tomorrow. We were nervous coming out of the gates today, but will be in a better place tomorrow. Looking forward to an opportunity to move up the leaderboard,” Head Coach Scott Moe said after day one.
The second day of competition was highlighted by a strong round from Ericson, who shot up the leaderboard to sixth place overall with a 78.
Kratz and Regalado were tied for 26th after shooting 90 and 89, respectively.
First-year Laurel Ward showed great improvement from her first round, shaving off 16 strokes to score a 78. Ward was tied for 31st place after day two.
With their second day score of 335, the Gusties totaled 667 and remained in sixth place as a team. St. Kate’s remained in first place with a two-day total of 628.
“[Ward] and [Ericson] had nice rounds for us today. Tomorrow we are going to look at every hole as a new opportunity to showcase what we can do, and we are looking forward to having a great final day of our conference championship,” Moe said.
The third day was the best for the Gusties, as they combined to shoot 328 and remained in sixth place overall.
Ericson continued to shave strokes off her score with each round and carded a final round score of 75. She tied for sixth place overall and earned All-Championship honors.
Kratz followed with an 81 on day three to finish tied for 24th place. Regalado tied for 27th after scoring 84 on Monday.
“It was very nice to see [Ericson] continue her strong fall performance finishing in sixth place and earning all tournament honors. I could see in their faces after the round how bad they wanted it, and that will drive us to be better,” Moe said.
Ward rounded out the lineup for the Gusties with an 88 that earned her a tie for 33rd place overall.
“With three sophomores and two freshmen in the lineup, I think we learned a lot this weekend that will help us significantly in the future,” Moe said.
In the team competition, Bethel carded a final round 308 to win the Championships.
“Our finish was not what we had hoped for. I am very proud of how we battled throughout the weekend. We had some great stretches during the tournament, but allowed some errant shots to lead to some big numbers. This is something we talk about at length and will continue to improve,” Moe said.
The Gusties have one more tournament to play before they conclude the fall season. Next weekend, they travel to Pittsburgh to play in the Tartan Invitational hosted by Carnegie Mellon University.
“We have to get right back in the saddle and prepare for next week. It is a very strong field, so we are grateful for the opportunity to play in that event which will be our final one of the year. Every opportunity we have, we hope to learn from and better our golf games,” Moe said.