The Gustavus men’s golf team shot a 307 (+19) in the third round of the NCAA Championships Thursday in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., falling from 11th to 14th place after the day two cut Host Oglethrope still leads the field of 15 teams by 16 strokes with a three-day total of 867 (+2). Methodist sits in second at 883 (+19), while Transylvania is in third with a total of 892 (+28).
“I thought we got off to a good start,” Head Coach Scott Moe acknowledged. “We made a nice string of pars to get us going, then we hit a wall and couldn’t get away from making a bunch of bogeys. And at the same time, we couldnt get any putts to fall for any birdies to try and bring us back. We lost a few shots on number eight, our 17th hole, which dropped us down into 14th.”
Junior Alex Kolquist paced the Gusties on the third day by shooting an even-par 72. The Hermantown, Minn. native collected four birdies and four bogeys on the El Campeon Course. Sophomore Simon Erlandsson and Andrew Oakes each shot a six-over par 78, while fellow second-year Tyler McMorrow tallied a plus-seven 79. Junior Trevor Gervais rounded out the Gusties’ five with an 82 (+10).
Kolquist is tied for 31st with a total of 225 (+9), Erlandsson is tied for 38th at 226 (+10), McMorrow is tied for 45th at 228 (+12), Gervais is tied for 52nd at 230 (+14) and Oakes is tied for 71st at 236 (+20).
“We are still only nine shots out of fifth place, which can be made up quickly on this course,” Moe said. “We’ve consistently had one or two guys play really well each day, but have yet to get a couple other scores to help out. We need to post four good numbers early tomorrow and then sit and wait. We have nothing to lose, it’s time to be a little more aggressive with our approach shots and our putts to try and get some birdies posted.”
Oglethrope’s Anthony Maccaglia leads the field of 81 with an impressive nine-under par 207 after shooting a 68 in the third round. Teammate Hayden Jones is in second with a 214 (-2), while Tain Lee of Claremont Mudd Scripps is in third at 215 (-1).
Gustavus will start the fourth and final round of the NCAA Championships Friday at 7:00 a.m. EST on the El Campeon Course.