Coon Rapids, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s golf team is in sixth place with a team score of 308 (+20) following the opening round of the 2013 MIAC Championship being held over the weekend at Bunker Hills Golf Course.
“We struggled from the first tee and couldn’t find our rhythm throughout the day,” said Head Coach Scott Moe following the tournament’s opening round. “We just need to regroup and to put together 18 good holes tomorrow. If we can do that we’ll be right back in the hunt.”
The day’s early showers and wet course conditions had little effect on the top of the field as four teams posted scores of 300 or better. Saint John’s University led the way with a one-under-par 287, finishing the day with three individuals ranked inside the top 10.
Bethel and Concordia sit tied for second with 298s (+10), Augsburg is in fourth with a 300 (+12), and St. Thomas ended up in front of Gustavus in fifth with a 303 (+15). In the previous five MIAC Championships, a total of seven teams have posted a team score of 300 or better. This year alone, four teams went 300 or below on day one.
Leading the Gusties was senior Tyler McMorrow (St. Cloud, Minn.) who is the squad’s only player ranked inside the top ten. McMorrow shot a two-over-par 74 to finish in a tie for eighth place alongside five other competitors.
Fellow senior Andrew Oakes (Hermantown, Minn.) is just one shot behind the eighth place traffic jam, carding a three-over 75 to finish in a three-way tie for 14th.
Rounding out Coach Moe’s top five was Andrew Krasaway (So., Hermantown, Minn.) in 28th with a 79 (+7), Andrew Brandt (So., Medina, Minn.) in 30th with an 80 (+8), and Matt Jensen (Sr., Edina, Minn.) in 38th with an 81 (+9).
The current leader with a five-under-par 67 is Casey Vangsness of Saint John’s. Behind him sits his Johnnie teammate Brett Draxler in second with a 69 (-3), and Landon Poss of Concordia in third with a 71 (-1).
Sunday’s 18-hole round will begin at 11:28 a.m., with Monday’s final round beginning at 9:00 a.m. Matt Jensen will be the first on the tee for Gustavus tomorrow morning. He will start at 12:08 p.m. with his four teammates teeing off every eight minutes behind him.
The MIAC has an event page featuring all the links and information to follow the action throughout the tournament. The conference, with the help of its teams, will provide scoring updates online during each round and those links will be available Saturday. Following the conclusion of each round, the event page will feature results, recaps and multimedia coverage of the championships, as well as updated pairings and tee times for subsequent rounds
Fans can also connect to the conference throughout the event on social media. The MIAC welcomes fans, coaches and student-athletes to share photos from the event on Facebook and Twitter, and to use the hashtag #MIACgolf on all championship-related tweets.