Teddy Kaste-
The Gustavus Men’s Golf Team made history this past weekend, becoming the first men’s golf team of any division (D1, D2, and D3) to win the Bobby Krig Invite in 2025. The win marked their third of the season, as well as the first win individually for First-year Jimmy Abdo. The Gusties shot rounds of 291-287-291 to take home the title by a significant margin of 17 strokes. Juniors Chris Gutuza and Pelayo Perez Crespo tied for 2nd individually, finishing only 1 stroke behind the champion, Abdo. Seniors Jack Reinardy and Teddy Kaste rounded out the team, finishing both 12th and 15th, respectively, displaying that “father time” is undefeated, as these old seniors battled back pain and general grumpiness through all three rounds.
“Big win today for the guys! Sure was fun to have all five guys on our top team play well,” said head coach Scott Moe ’95. “In a very strong field, to have the top three guys individually is pretty special. We took advantage of our opportunities and minimized our mistakes. We wanted to get a big win this year, and it’s been a long time since we’ve won our home event. It feels good and I’m very happy for the guys for how hard they have worked and battled since last fall, great to get a victory. Congratulations to Jimmy [Abdo] on his first win.”
The first day of the event was 36 holes at the Gusties’ home course. This grueling test of stamina and mental focus was one where the Gusties thrived, as they ended the 36-hole day one with a 4-shot lead over Eau Claire. Abdo and Gutuza led the way on day one, both posting +2 over the 36 holes. Crespo was not far behind with +5, while Reinardy and Kaste were +10.
According to Kaste’s phone, during the 36 holes on Friday, he logged 14.3 total miles of walking distance, which is over a half marathon just in walking. Golf is extremely demanding both mentally and physically, and it’s a very legitimate sport in my unbiased journalistic opinion.
When asked about his performance, Kaste responded, “Tariffs. My scores got tariffed. My scores were supposed to be 20% lower than this. It was one thing when he tariffed all those countries, and that uninhabited island and those penguins. But my golf game? This administration…” Kaste went on to rant about various political issues for several hours, resulting in us eventually being kicked out of the Arby’s in which this interview was being conducted.
The Gusties held only a 4-shot lead going into day 2 at New Prague, which in team golf, is not a large lead. The Gusties shined at New Prague as Perez Crespo made a push to win the tournament individually, shooting an even par 71 on the day (+5 for the tournament), but Abdo was able to hold him off, shooting a +2 73 (+4 for the tournament). Gutuza also fell 1 shot short with a +3 74 at New Prague GC. Reinardy took a couple of Advil and came back strong on day 2 with a +2 73, while Kaste did pretty good (kinda) with a +3 74.
Although there was only one individual winner, all five can call themselves champions because of the team aspect of the game. This win marked the third on the season for the Gusties and helped boost their national ranking from #34 up to the prestigious #29. The Gustie golfers have one more tournament at St. John’s this weekend. For many Seniors, this will mark their final college golf tournament, so good luck to all the Gusties!