INDEPENDENCE, Minn. - The Gustavus men's golf team started the Minnesota Golf Classic with 36 holes today, sitting in sixth place with 18 holes to go.
The Gusties started strong with a +5 Round One, but stumbled a bit more in the afternoon bringing the team to +15 through the first day. Gustavus was one of three teams in the 15-team event to have a worse second round than first, but the five-over start was able to keep the team in the top half of competition.
"36 holes in one day is a grind" said head coach
Scott Moe. "I felt like we were well prepared for the morning round and put together some decent scores. I felt like we lost some in the afternoon as we did not make as many birdies on the par fives as we did in the morning. Charlie and Blake had solid days for both rounds and Ford put together a good day as well on the second team. Back at it early tomorrow morning, looking forward to a chance to put together a solid round for all players".
Sophomore
Charlie Looker (Cottage Grove, Minn.) and senior
Blake Forrest (Maple Grove, Minn.) did have good days, carding even par and two-over through 36, respectively. Looker shot a -1 (71) in the morning session and balanced that out in the afternoon, whereas Forrest shot a +2 (74) in the morning and an even-par with a perfectly clean back-nine in the afternoon. Sophomore
Kyle Peterson (Duluth, Minn.) and first-year
Ryan Stanek (Stillwater, Minn.) were the other two scorers in both rounds for the team. Peterson had the second best team round with a +1 (73) during the first 18, but struggled with a +5 (77) in the afternoon. Stanek, making his debut for the top group, was +3 (75) in the morning and then just one shot worse on the back half of the day at a +4 (76).
Looker and Forrest and sophomore
Ford Finster (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) stood out individually. Finster had an identical day to Forrest to sit T32 (+2) on the individual leaderboard while Looker sits two shots better at T20 (E). The meet is populated by multiple Division I individuals as well who are in town from across the country due to the University of Minnesota's 2nd Swing Gopher Invitational and all three Gusties sit ahead of multiple of those competitors through 36 holes.
As mentioned by Moe, the team is back in action tomorrow morning for the final 18 holes. All players will have an 8 a.m. shotgun tee time at Pioneer Creek Golf Course.
