SCSU golf in full swing

With 40 mph winds whipping on an unfamiliar course, the SCSU men’s golf team battled the conditions in one of their biggest tournaments of the fall season Sunday and Monday.

The team fought the elements at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference/ Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference crossover tournament in Gothenburg, Neb.

“I think the kids got frustrated pretty early in those rounds,” said SCSU head coach Judi Larkin. “When you play 36 holes in one day with that blowing in your face it’s pretty hard to come back.”

The Huskies were in sixth place after the first day, but on the second day they shot the lowest 18 hole team total of the entire tournament field, a 297 to capture a tie for third place.

They were only seven strokes behind the tournament winner and conference rival Minnesota State-Mankato.

“After the first day, the conversation was basically trying to keep the ball in play,” Larkin said. “It wasn’t as windy the second day, but I think we were prepared for it.”

Senior Evan Peters, coming off of medalist honors at the SCSU invite the previous weekend, shot a final round of 73 to take a runner-up finish. He fired rounds of 77 and 73 on the first day, for a three round total of 223.

The tournament medalist was Brady Strangstalien of Winona State, who was tied with Peters coming into the final round, but bested him by two strokes to take first.

Also performing well for the Huskies was first year player Billy Barnhardt who tied for eighth place with a three round total of 232.

Sophomore Beau Anderson and Jordan Dickey also also contributed to the Huskies, shooting 74 and 76 respectively in the final round.

“We are just going to work on consistency. We received a lot of high scores, so we are just trying to level them off a little bit,” Larkin said.

Closer to home, the SCSU women’s team managed to find some success themselves.

Playing at the St. Ben’s Invite, the Huskies took first place honors in the two day tournament.

On Saturday they shot a team score of 334 at Wapicada in Sauk Rapids. They were led by Senior Lee Zutz who shot a 79.
On Sunday at Blackberry Ridge in Sartell, the Huskies clinched the title posting a team score of 341.

Zutz shot an 82, finishing just two strokes back of medalist honors, which were captured by St. Thomas’ Amy Anderson who shot 79-80.

Also performing well for the Huskies was sophomore Emily Kerber who shot rounds of 81 and 84 good enough for third place.

“The competition wasn’t as stiff in this one, but they did play well,” Larkin said. “A couple of players Lee and Emily played solid for two days.”

The Lady Huskies host some tough competition coming up on Oct. 3-4 at the St. Cloud Country Club for the Husky Invite.

They hope to bring the momentum from their victory at the St. Ben’s Invite.

“We’ve got two injuries, so we are going to try and get them healthy so we can play well this weekend,” Larkin said.

The SCSU men travel to Hastings for the first leg of the conference tournament. The second will be played in the spring.

“[This tournament] is really important to us because we let that slip away last year,” Larkin said.

Also they would like to beat the rival Mavericks as they have bested them two out of the three times they have played against each other this year.