HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – The Gustavus men’s golf team shot a 314 (+30) in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships on Wednesday at Mission Inn Resort and Club’s Las Colinas Course. The Gusties carded a two-round total of 630 (+58) for 24th place out of 43 teams, missing the cut of the top 18 teams by 13 strokes.
The Gusties had to battle adversity as Wyatt Wasko (Jr., Lake Elmo) sustained an injury on the first hole of the day and had to withdraw from the round, leaving the remaining four golfers to post the team score.
Jacob Pedersen (Sr., Minnetonka) carded a two-round total of 73-77-150 (+7) to tie for 31st place. Pedersen lost in a playoff hole to qualify as an individual for the remaining two rounds of the championship. Sam Skaar (Sr., Coleraine) tied for 96th after posting a 79-78-157. Ben Forsberg (So., Shafer) shot an 84-76-160, tying for 124th, and Max Ullan (Sr., Blaine) tied for 152nd with an 81-83-164.
“So proud of our group of guys,” Head Coach Scott Moe said. “The course was extremely tough. Our guys will be the first to admit we wished for better results. Not making the cut will sting, but I’d rather be stung than not competing. This is where we belonged and we battled hard to get one of the at-large bids. It just didn’t finish the way we hoped. Tough start to the round today when Wasko hit a buried root and sprained his wrist and had to withdraw. Four players were in a national championship for the first time, and I am so happy they got that opportunity. We were the early rounds today and when finished we knew we wouldn’t make the cut but there was a way outside chance that JP would make it as an individual. We waited for about five hours until the final groups finished and he ended up in a two-for-one playoff, JP played the hole perfectly, just missing his long birdie putt, and his opponent rolled in a 50-footer for the win.