Altoona, Wis. – The Gustavus men’s golf team is in striking distance of the leader after the opening round of the Frank Wrigglesworth Blugold Invite held Sunday at the Eau Claire Golf & Country Club. The Gusties posted a team score of 306 (+2) – their second-best tournament round of the season – to finish the day in third place. Leading the way is Bethel University who scored a 295 (+11), followed by Saint John’s University with a 305 (+21).
“It was a real team effort today with No. 4 and 5, Andrew Krasaway and Matt Rastetter, turning in low scores,” said Assistant Coach Randy Stuckey. “We are in third place after a solid effort and will have to put in a great score tomorrow in order to catch Bethel. We’re showing more consistent play and improvement from everyone, which is encouraging as we move forward.”
Junior Andrew Krasaway (Hermantown, Minn.) leads the Black and Gold after posting his best single round score of the season with a three-over-par 74. Krasaway will attempt to chase down Grant Exsted of Bethel who leads with an even-par 71, and Bennett Schroeder of St. Thomas who sits second with a two-over 73.
“The last week or so I’ve been starting to play much better and feel good about my game,” said Krasaway following the day’s round. “Today I hit well off the tee, which made it a lot easier to attack greens and set myself up for easy pars. I made a few birdies and limited my mistakes to only bogeys – hopefully I can do more of the same tomorrow.”
Matt Rastetter (Fr., Maple Grove, Minn.) and Matt Spier (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) finished next in line for the Gusties. Rastetter is in 14th after shooting a 76 (+5), while Spier is in 20th after shooting a 77 (+6). Chris Captain (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Andrew Brandt (Jr., Medina, Minn.) both sit in 42nd after carding 79s (+8).
Monday’s final round of the Frank Wrigglesworth Blugold Invite will begin at 8:30 a.m.