This past weekend, the Men’s Golf team participated in a dual meet against Saint Johns. The first round was at Rush Creek with the second being at Pioneer Creek. The Gusties came up just short, with the A team finishing 311-286-597 and the nationally ranked St. John’s tallying a final score of 301-279-580.
Although the team was defeated, Junior Teddy Kaste was able to score an impressive 73-69-142, enough to tie first place as an individual. Sophomore Pelayo Perez Crespo was not far behind Kaste, finishing with a 75-71-146 which put him in a tie for second place as an individual.
“What helped most, honestly, was the course I played. The day one course was very difficult with water everywhere – tough to navigate that place. Day two was a little more wide open with a lot more birdie opportunities. I feel like I played pretty similarly, but the course was a little easier and I made some putts for birdie. Had a great tournament, played good and came prepared. I plan to keep the same attitude. Stay relaxed and confident in the work I’m putting in and the work that my teammates are putting in and good things are going to happen for us,” Kaste said.
“It feels great to see that the hard work I have put in throughout last year and this summer is starting to pay off. I will keep working hard and playing my game throughout the whole season, and hopefully, the results will continue to appear,” Crespo said.
The leader of the B team, Sophomore Wyatt Carlson, was able to score a 75-75-150 in a great two round showing. The course proved difficult on the first day, and Wyatt was able to maintain consistency. Junior Jack Reinardy posted a tied-for-lowest day two score of 69 after an 82 on day one.
“I just played more relaxed and trusted my game on day two, which allowed me to play better,” Reinardy said.
The men’s team will return this weekend at the Minnesota Classic, hosted by Bethel University. The main goal for the team is to level out the score card and play the course as they did this past weekend.
“Our low rounds were very good, a lot of guys are capable of shooting really low but having those average days at the back end is just going to really help us compete nationally. We’re back at the same course, Pioneer Creek, so I’m just going to practice every part of my game. I just played it, and I played well there so I’m pretty confident going into the tournament, and I think every team has a lot of reasons to be really confident,” Kaste said.
The women’s team had a successful weekend as well, playing in the Saint Benedict Invite at Blackberry Ridge. The team finished with a final score of 319-306-625 after a strong 13-stroke drop on day two.
Senior Annika Reierson and Sophomore Emily Kolb held it down with scores of 78-74-152 and 76-76-152, respectively. Their consistency through rounds one and two was the key to the team’s score. Reierson used her experience to keep the team spirits high.
“Being a senior, I have played many of the courses our tournaments are at so I am able to help the team with course management. I try to stay positive no matter how I play or how the team plays. I also try to give helpful advice to the team like trying to stay mentally strong throughout a whole round. This tournament showed us that we have the ability to score really well and our team has what it takes to keep improving. I am excited about what our team has in store for next weekend,” Reierson said.
Sophomore Jenna Piepkorn was able to improve her score in round two, helping her finish with a final score of 88-77-165. She enjoyed walking the course and believes it helped her lower her score for day two.
“I felt more engaged and in a better routine walking the course rather than driving around in a cart. I also knew what to improve on to drop strokes and played my own game. It was a competition between day one me and day two me,” Piepkorn said.
First-Year Maren Masters capped off her first weekend of collegiate play with a sub-eighty round. She carded a score of 88-79-167. She was nervous at first, but was able to focus up and put together a better second round.
“On the range before tee off I was extremely nervous, but after my first tee shot I felt better and was able to focus on playing good golf. One of the biggest things that helped me focus on day two was that I wanted to perform for my team. I knew my score was going to matter and I wanted to play well so our team could do better. It also helped that I knew the course better and I was able to be more intentional on the greens and off the tee with my shots,” Masters said.
The women’s team returns this weekend at the Georgianni Invitational in Eau Claire, where they hope to put their hard work to use.
“We will be looking into our stats from the weekend and talking about where we could have saved some strokes. Then we will practice in those various areas like putting drills, playing our home course Le Sueur CC, and looking at our swing numbers at our facility,” Masters said.
“We keep doing what we’re doing. We practice as a team, get a few practice rounds in, and spend lots of time at the chipping and putting green. We are dialed in,” Piepkorn said.
The heat wave affected the whole state last weekend, and the golfers had to adapt to stay cool.
“The heat wave was a little interesting, they made us take carts because they said it was too hot for us to be walking out there. Very rarely do you see a tournament played with carts, however, for this weekend we were able to. It was pretty relaxing and good to hang out with one of your buddies in the cart and just have a good time,” Kaste said.
“The heat was difficult to endure but I think that it helped us focus and dial into our own shots. We have grit. By the end of the round we were more mentally prepared to push through the last three to four holes and score lower than our opponents,” Piepkorn said.