The Gustavus men’s golf team is within 18 holes of claiming the program’s first ever national championship. The Gusties lead Methodist and Redlands by six strokes heading into the final day.
Coach Scott Moe’s squad posted a steady 299 (+11) on the third day of the four-day NCAA Championship event which is being held at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club at Oak Valley near Los Angeles. The Gusties have fashioned a 54-hole total of 299-288-299–886. Host Redlands University and Methodist College are tied for second place at 892. This is the first time that the Gustavus men’s golf team has ever led the national tournament heading into the final round. The Gusties have finished second at the NCAA Championships three times (1990, 1991, 1992), but never been able to claim the coveted national title.
Seniors Luke Benoit, Neil Johnson and Brent Borgstahl came up big for the Gusties on Wednesday as Benoit and Johnson carded rounds of two-over par 74, while Borgstahl contributed a score of three-over par 75. Freshman Chase Thonvold added a four-over par 76, while junior Brady Hoffman had a difficult day posting an eight-over par score of 80.
Individually, Neil Johnson is in third place at 72-72-74–218 (+2), while Luke Benoit is in sixth place at 74-71-74–219 (+3). Chase Thonvold is in 18th place at 76-72-76–224 (+8), Brent Borgstahl is in 25th place at 77-77-75–229 (+13) and Brady Hoffman is in 45th place at 78-73-80–231 (+15).
Gustavus will tee off in the final group of the tournament beginning at 12:50 pm (Pacific Standard Time). It is expected that the round will end approximately 5:15 pm (PST) or 7:15 (Central Standard Time).
You can follow the final round live at the Golfstat.com website