CORDOVA, Tenn. – The Gustavus men's golf team finished seventh of 18 teams at the Rhodes College (Tenn.) Cochran Collegiate, which wrapped up competition with round three at Colonial Country Club (par 72) Tuesday, April 15. 

Of the 18 teams in competition, eight appeared in the Scoreboard by clippd National Collegiate Golf Rankings Top 25: No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan, No. 7 LeTourneau (Texas), No. 9 Oglethorpe (Ga.), No. 10 Lynchburg (Va.), No. 18 Hampden-Sydney (Va.), No. 20 Berry (Ga.), No. 22 Babson (Mass.), and No. 25 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas). Three others, including the No. 38 Gusties, were featured in the 30s. Seven of the top eight also appeared in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Division III Coaches' Top 25 poll. 

Pelayo Perez Crespo (Jr., Sotogrande, Spain) finished 13th overall to lead the Gusties, carding a day three 76. Perez Crespo carded two birdies on Tuesday, alongside 11 pars to shoot four-over. Teddy Kaste (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) also carded a 76 on Tuesday to move up 12 spots on the leaderboard with a birdie and 13 pars. 

Chris Gutuza (Jr., Johannesburg, South Africa) took 23rd overall with a day three 77, while Wyatt Carlson (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) moved up two spots with a 79 on Tuesday. Gutuza carded a trio of birdies, while Carson and Jimmy Abdo (Fy., Edina, Minn.) each added one. Abdo finished 35th with a round three 80.

Oglethorpe finished atop the leaderboard with a 303-300-296-899. Lynchburg was second with a 904, while host Rhodes took 12th. The Gusties carded a two-day 305-313-308-926, two shots behind Hampden-Sydney in sixth and four out of the top five. 

"Finishing seventh in a tournament like this was a great showing by the guys," said assistant coach Randall Stuckey '83. "It was another very windy day, but totally in a different direction than yesterday, so club selection and course management was big today. This was a very good test of golf on a great golf course and they embraced the challenge. Proud of our guys, and congratulations to Pelayo Perez on finishing 13th in a field of 90 golfers."

The Gusties next host the annual Bobby Krig Invite this weekend, April 18-19. Friday's competition will begin with two rounds at Le Sueur Country Club with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun, followed by round three's 8 a.m. shotgun Saturday at New Prague.