Sartell, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s golf team showed improvement on the second day of the Saint John’s Invitational held Sunday at Blackberry Ridge Golf Course. Unfortunately for the Gusties, so did the rest of the field. With a 306 on day two added to a 317 on day one, Gustavus finished the two-day tournament with a 623 (+47) to place ninth out of 23 competing teams.
Nebraska Wesleyan University moved up one spot from the opening round to win the meet with a team score of 595 (301-294, +19). St. Cloud State University took home second with a 599 (+23) after posting a tournament-low 292 on the second day. UW-Eau Claire rounded out the top three in third with a 602 (+26).
Senior Lee Bystrom (Buffalo, Minn.) paced the Gusties on Sunday in Sartell. Following a first round 81 (+9), Bystrom fired a one-over-par 73 at Blackberry Ridge to lead the team with a tournament total 154 (+10).
Finishing next in line on Gustavus’s first team was Matt Jensen (Sr., Edina, Minn.) and Andrew Oakes (Sr., Hermantown, Minn.). Jensen led the squad on day one with a 76 (+4) then added a 79 (+7) to end up in 30th with a 155 (+11). Oakes followed a first round 80 (+8) with a 76 (+4) to end up in 36th with a 156 (+12).
Tyler McMorrow (Sr., St. Cloud, Minn.) of the first team, and Andrew Krasaway (So., Hermantown, Minn.) and Jon Husu (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) of the second team also cracked the top 50. McMorrow placed 50th with an 80-78-158 (+14), Krasaway placed 45th with an 80-77-157 (+13), and Husu came in 50th with an 81-77-158 (+14).
Winning the tournament was Manitoba’s Josh Wytinck who carded a one-under 143. Jack Pexa of St. Cloud State finished with an even-par 144 to take silver, and Rory Doll of Nebraska Wesleyan rounded out the podium in third with a one-over 145.
The Gusties will be back on the course next weekend when it travels to Greensboro, N.C. to take part in the NCAA Preview Tournament being held at the Grandover Resort on Sept. 21-23.