The Gustavus men’s golf team is well prepared for the MIAC Championships after competing against many of the country’s top Division III teams earlier this week at the Gordin Classic NCAA D3 Preview. The 18-team tournament held in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. featured 16 colleges and universities that reached last year’s NCAA Division III National Tournament. The Gusties placed 13th at the Gordin Classic with a three-day collective score of 301-328-304-933 (+69).
Prior to the NCAA D3 Preview, Gustavus placed third in both of its first two meets of the 2011-12 campaign – the Augsburg Invite on Sept. 10-11 and Saint John’s Invitational on Sept. 17-18. In both meets, the University of Manitoba and Saint John’s University placed either first or second.
Sophomore Simon Erlandsson has proven to be the Gusties top shooter with consistent play. The Mjolby, Sweden native placed 16th in a field of 91 at the Gordin Classic with a three-round score of 75-83-70-228 (+12). He finished 12th at the Augsburg Invite and 22nd at the Saint John’s Invitational. After seven rounds this season, Erlandsson has averaged 76.1 shots per round – a team low.
Fellow second-year Andrew Oakes also has compiled an 18-hole average of less than 77 at 76.9. Oakes, a Hermantown, Minn. native, finished in the top-12 in the first two meets of the season – 12th at the Augsburg Invite and eighth at the SJU Invitational.
Not far behind Oakes is sophomore Tyler McMorrow with a 77.1-round average through seven rounds. McMorrow notched the Gusties’ highest finish of the season garnering fourth place in the first meet of the year. Junior Trevor Gervais also recorded a fourth place finish at Saint John’s with a score of 77-75-152. The Fergus Falls, Minn. native has tallied a 78.6 average.
Junior Alex Kolquist, who placed 15th at last year’s NCAA Championships, is averaging 79.3 shots per round. Kolquist recorded his best finish of the season at the Saint John’s Invitational by taking 14th out of 115 participants.
Not to be forgotten is junior Coby Rowley, who has spent time on the Gusties’ second team. Rowley was recently named MIAC Men’s Golf Co-Athlete-of-the-Week after leading the team to a third-place finish at the Macalester Invitational last weekend. The Prior Lake, Minn. product won his first individual tournament title of his collegiate career with a two-day total of 76-72-148. He was one of two players in a field of 64 to shoot a 72 (E) over the course of the tournament.
Gustavus will look to improve upon last season’s performance at the conference tournament where it placed fifth, as the Gusties travel to Coon Rapids, Minn. on Oct. 1-3 for the 2011 MIAC Championships.