BECKER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s golf team took sixth place Monday at the MIAC Championships. The Gusties finished the 54-hole tournament with their best round at 328 and a total of 995. Bethel shot 308 on the final day to take the lead and the championship with a three-round total of 941.
“Our finish was not what we had hoped for,” Head Coach Scott Moe said. “I am very proud of how we battled throughout the weekend. In the game of golf if you show up at a tournament and your game is not quite there, and you’re under tournament conditions, it could be a very difficult weekend. In golf it is you and the course, when you get frustrated it’s not like other sports where it’s easy to take out aggression, it bottles up inside and can create more obstacles when playing. We had some great stretches during the tournament, but allowed some errant shots to lead to some big numbers. This is something we talk about at length and will continue to improve.”
Erin Ericson (So., Onalaska, Wis.) earned All-Championship Team honors, tying for sixth place. Ericson improved her score every day at 82-78-75-235 (+19). Emily Kratz (So., Edina) tied for 24th at 79-90-81-250. Sydney Regalado (So., Rosemount) tied for 27th with an 80-89-84-253 and Laurel Ward (Fy., Bozeman, Mont.) tied for 33rd at 94-78-88-260.
Alyssa Akiyama of Carleton earned medalist honors, carding a 73-73-74-220.
“It was very nice to see Erin continue her strong fall performance finishing in sixth place and earning all tournament honors,” Moe said. “I could see in their faces after the round how bad they wanted it, and that will drive us to be better. With three sophomores and two freshmen in the lineup, I think we learned a lot this weekend that will help us significantly in the future. We have to get right back in the saddle and prepare for next week. We have an amazing opportunity to play in a tournament hosted by Carnegie Mellon at Laurel Valley in Pittsburgh. The course has been host to a Ryder Cup and a PGA championship. It is a very strong field, so we are grateful for the opportunity to play in that event which will be our final one of the year. Every opportunity we have, We hope to learn from and better our golf games.”
Gustavus closes out the fall season Oct. 7-8 at the Tartan Invitational in Ligonier, Pa.