HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - The No. 18 ranked Gustavus men's golf team teed it up for the first day of the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships on Tuesday, taking place at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. 

The appearance in the tournament marks the 28th time as a team, holding one national championship, which was won in 2004. Mission Inn Resort has two courses, El Campeon and Las Colinas and on Day 1, the Gusties took on El Campeon. One wrinkle on the day was impending rain, which started during the Gusties' round, but a few hours later, forced play to be halted for the day, meaning some teams will play upwards of 27 holes on Wednesday before the cut.

The course was harsh to the Gusties, who carded 19 bogeys or worse on the front nine, but after settling into the day, the team found nine birdies or better on the back nine, balancing out four bogeys or worse.  

The top scorer for the day was sophomore Jimmy Abdo (Edina, Minn.) who shot a 39-34-73. Abdo's start included two bogeys and a double bogey to shoot +4 on the front nine but got two shots back on Holes 10 and 11 and brought his score to par down one more shot with a birdie on the 18th hole. By getting down to +1, Abdo pushed himself up to a tie for 53rd individually as well, setting the tone for Day 2. 

The second scorer was senior Chris Gutuza (Johannesburg, South Africa), who started off hot with a birdie on the first par-five, Hole 1. The front half of the course got the best of him after the first hole, though, going +5 throughout the stretch of holes four through eight. Just like Abdo, Gutuza took advantage of the par-five 10th with a birdie, but unlike Abdo, bogeyed hole 11. The South African was a shark on the next par-five as well, carding an eagle on the 532-yard 14th hole. 

Fellow senior Wyatt Carlson (Wayzata, Minn.) shot a steady 38-38-76, which was a bit more unbalanced with the nature of El Campeon, which plays as a 35-37-72. Carlson played the first two holes even par, then bogeyed holes three and four, before three more pars from five through seven. After a bogey on hole eight, Carlson played even-par golf from the ninth to the 14th, when he birdied the par-3 15th. Unfortunately, Carlson could not keep riding the wave, carding a double bogey sixth on the par-4 16th. This left him at +4 on the day and tied for 135th so far.

The last player contributing to the team score on Tuesday was first-year Kyle Peterson (Duluth, Minn.), who shot +6 (78), going 40-38-78. Peterson was +5 on the front nine, not finding two pars in a row, but pulled it closer on the back nine. After a double bogey on Hole 11, the first-year had back-to-back pars before a birdie on the 14th. Peterson ended his round with four pars to shoot a 38 on the back nine and stay at 78th, mitigating team damage.

"Felt like we had a good game plan going into today, but we didn't get off to a great start" said head coach Scott Moe.  "We missed some shots in bad places and didn't get comfortable until six holes in and that cost us.  We played well on back nine, making really good decisions on tough pins. The course we played doesn't give you much leeway on missed shots. I really feel like we can put together a great day tomorrow.  We battled hard and didn't get down after an ugly start. We plan to get under the cut line and then finish well playing Thursday and Friday".


After the first day, Gustavus sits in an uneven tie for 32nd, with 19 schools still on the course during their first round. With the rain delay, the expected tee time for Round 2 has been pushed back, scheduled tentatively for 1:45 p.m. local time, 12:45 p.m. Central.