Nyden Hill – Staff Writer
This past weekend the Gustavus men’s golf team traveled to Edina to host the Twin Cities Classic. The tournament took place at the Elk River Country Club, Links at Northfork, and Edina Country Club, and featured teams from the MIAC and beyond. This included St. John’s, Bethel, Augsburg, Luther, Carleton, St. Olaf, and Macalester.
Going into the tournament, the Gusties were riding the momentum of a second-place finish during the St. John’s Invitational on the 17 and 18, and a fifth-place finish during the Minnesota Classic at Pioneer Creek Golf Course in Independence, Minnesota.
“The team dynamic has been great. We are staying competitive with each other during the week while practicing, which has been beneficial. The more we can get comfortable competing, the better results in tournaments we’ll get. We’re also a very close group of guys on and off the course, and having this strengthens our trust and builds an all-around great team,” Senior Sam Skaar said.
This particular tournament featured three rounds of 18-hole golf, with each round taking place on a separate day on a different course. On the first day, it seemed to be a great day to be out on the course, with an average temperature of 58 degrees and little-to-no precipitation. Beginning the tournament at Elk River Country Club, the Gusties started the day off strong with Senior Wyatt Wasko at the helm. Through the front nine holes, Wasko stayed even at par. He was helped by the rest of the Gustavus A team, all of whom finished the first half at either 2 or 3 over.
Wasko continued this strong play through the back nine, solidifying himself at 2 under par with a score of 70. Skaar and Sophomore Cam Longie also added to the effort with a pair of 5-over performances to finish out day one at the Twin Cities Classic.
With this strong first day in mind, Wasko has had some pretty impressive goals for his fourth season as a Gustie.
“Personally, I have set extremely high goals this year. This is mostly because of the successful year that I had last year, with getting all-region, all-conference, and academic All-American. Numerically, I am right around where I had set my goals originally to begin the year, which is pleasing to me but is pushing me to work harder than ever. I have played well, finishing in the top ten in four out of five tournaments, but that also has me in a position where I want to strive to be even better and win another event, which would be the fourth of my college career. In terms of our team goals, we haven’t met most of those. I think this is mostly due to a lack of experience with a lot of new players in the lineup. Although, with this being said, we have been continuously getting better every week and this has pushed us closer to some of the goals that we set in the preseason,” Wasko said.
As they played the second day of the tournament at the Links in Northfork, the Gusties seemed to struggle a bit with carrying over the first day’s momentum. Through the first half of play the Gusties looked strong, with Wasko situated at 2-over and both Skaar and Junior Chris Gutuza being 3-over. However, in the back nine, it was seemingly a different story for the Gusties. Wasko dropped to 7-over par and Skaar and Gutuza dropped to 8- and 11-over, respectively. While this might appear as a concerning sign to some, as cited by Skaar, one thing that the Gusties are especially strong in is holding belief and staying strong mentally.
“This past tournament my main challenge was my putting. I struck the ball well and not making any putts was really frustrating as my scores were inflated compared to how I played. But I knew that if I kept hitting the ball well, I’d give myself chances, and eventually they would go in. The main thing is to keep a steady attitude, it’s very easy to complain and give up but I knew that if I kept grinding, I would start to see results,” Skaar said.
The third day served as a telling point for the team, with many players stepping up and finishing strong. This was highlighted by Junior Chris Gutuza’s performance in the front nine holes. Through the first nine, Gutuza shot a cumulative 33 on a par 35, putting himself in great shape, and Skaar ended the front nine just four over par.
During the back nine, Gutuza held form with a two-over-par performance to make it even on the day over 18 holes. Longie also showed his grit in a bounce-back, rounding out his 6-over front nine performance with a 2-under back nine to finish four over.
Cumulatively, this three-round effort was enough for the Gusties to secure a fifth-place finish at the Twin Cities Classic, with a three-round total of 302-318-308-928 (+64). Wasko was able to finish tied for 8th with a total that landed him 12 over par. Longie was able to tie for 23rd, while Kaste tied for 29th.
“The biggest challenge last weekend was definitely the conditions. We got lucky day one at Elk River that it wasn’t too windy or cold which let me score well. Day two and three were a grind mentally. I felt like I hit it just as well but scores were higher due to high winds and fast greens. I would have to say that day two might have been close to the hardest conditions I’ve ever played in. 30 MPH of wind on a course like Links at Northfork feels like 50. The biggest thing to overcome the conditions is to not get torn up when hitting a poor shot. You can’t let it turn into multiple mistakes which lead to large numbers,” Junior Tommy Hinkiker said.
Looking ahead, the Gusties are competing at the 2022 MIAC Championships in Minneapolis Oct. 1 through 3 and hope to finish strong at the D3 Golfweek Challenge in Destin, Florida, where they will be facing national-level competition.