St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s golf team will travel outside state borders for the first time this fall when it makes the trek to Altoona, Wisconsin to take part in the UW-Eau Claire Invitational being held Saturday, Sept. 20 and Sunday, Sept. 21 at the Eau Claire Golf & Country Club. Saturday’s round will begin at 10:00 a.m. while the tournament’s final round on Sunday will start at 8:30 a.m.
Along with Gustavus and host UW-Eau Claire, competing teams this weekend include Saint John’s University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Central College, Edgewood College, Carthage College, University of St. Thomas, UW-Stout, Luther College, Bethel University, Concordia College, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Macalester College.
The Gusties are most recently coming off a ninth place finish at the Saint John’s Fall Invitational where they posted a team score of 318-312–630 (+54). Andrew Brandt (Jr., Medina, Minn.) led the Black and Gold with a 10th place finish after shooting a 153 (+9) over the weekend.
After one dual and two tournaments, junior Matt Spier (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) holds the team’s best average. Spier carries a stroke average of 76.5 (+5) over his four total rounds from the Augsburg Invite and Saint John’s Invite. Andrew Brandt sits second on the team with a 76.8 (+5) average in five rounds, while Chris Captain (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) sits third with a 77.6 (+6) average in five rounds.
The last time Gustavus competed in the UW-Eau Claire Invitational was on Sept. 23-24, 2012. The Gusties finished second overall with a team score of 619 (+51), falling by just one stroke to Luther who won the tournament with a 618 (+50). Then senior Alex Kolquist ’13 took home individual medalist honors with a 73-72–145 (+3) over the weekend.
The Blugolds of UW-Eau Claire head into the weekend looking to defend their 2013 title after running way with the top prive last season with a team score of 596 (+28).