Ben Hauge sinks a long downhill putt on the 11th green.
COMPLETE RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERY
LE SUEUR, Minn. – In the second round Monday, the No. 20 Gustavus men’s golf team posted the lowest round of the day at the Bobby Krig Invitational to move into second place and within striking range of the title, but couldn’t replicate the result in the third and final round, finishing third with a score of 887 (+39). No. 15 nationally ranked Illinois Wesleyan won the event with an 875, while No. 11 Saint John’s took second at 883.
Alec Aunan watches his drive on the 10th tee.
The Gusties sat in a tie for fourth place after the first round yesterday and moved into second with a tournament-low 288 in the second round, but a 301 in the third dropped them out of contention.
Ben Hauge (Fy., Ramsey, Minn.) led Gustavus with a fourth place finish, carding a 74-70-74-218 (+6), marking the first top-five finish of his young career. Alec Aunan (Jr., Rock Island, Ill.) captured his 11th career top-10 finish, tying for seventh after shooting 78-69-73-220 (+8). Chris Captain (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) tied for 18th with a 72-76-76-224 (+12), Alex Koopmeiners (Sr., St. Cloud, Minn.) tied for 20th at 74-73-78-225 (+13), while Sam Majka (Sr., Wayzata, Minn.) rounded out the Gusties’ No. 1 team with a tie for 54th place at 82-79-78-239 (+27). Thomas Carlson (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.) led the Gustavus No. 2 team, tying for 54th with a 77-84-78-239 (+27).
“The last round we got off to a little shaky start on some tough holes,” Head Coach Scott Moe said. “The wind was really howling at that point. We managed to get back on track, but put ourselves in a little hole out of the gates. We battled hard down the stretch and got a few back to finish in third place behind two very good teams. It was a great field so it’s nice to place two guys in the top ten.”
The Gusties wrap up the spring season Saturday and Sunday at the Saint John’s Invitational and then await if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, which takes place May 16-19.