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MAPLE PLAINE, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s golf team competed in the Minnesota Golf Classic this weekend. The Gusties stood in 12th place after an opening round of +21 on Saturday, but rallied with -1 in the second round and then set a program single-round record of -14 in the third on Sunday to finish at +6 and win the tournament.
“Great response today by our guys,” said head coach Scott Moe. “We played the golf course the way it was intended to be played with the way the pins were set up. We took advantage of par fives and made a few putts to get us rolling this morning. We talked about just trying to get into position, which we did with the one under par. In the afternoon round, we hit some good shots on our early holes. We started with some early birdies and continued to ride that momentum.”
The Gusties set the program record for lowest 18-hole team score in Gustavus history on Sunday in the third round, shooting 274 (-14) as a team. The previous program record was 277, set in 2021 at the MIAC Championship.
“A school record 14 under par to close out the tournament was really cool to see,” said Moe. “Very proud of how we responded after having some adversity with yesterday’s round. I love to see the battle. Some really good teams in our conference, going to be a lot of close tournaments this fall. Nice to get the first win under our belt.”
Chris Gutuza led the Gusties in their remarkable comeback victory. After first-round score of +5 on Saturday, the senior shot for par in the second round and then -9 in the third round. Gutuza finished the tournament tied for fifth overall out of the field of 110 golfers. His third-round score of 63 (-9) broke the program record for best single-round score in the history of Gustavus men’s golf, breaking the previous record of 65 (-7) that was set by Pete Anderson in ’92 and matched by Luke Benoit in ’04, Andrew Krasaway in ’16, and Jacob Pedersen in ’21.
“Chris went berserk today; he made a couple of long puts and managed the golf course perfectly,” said Moe. “A program record 63 and it gave the rest of our guys confidence throughout the round. An absolute team effort by everybody.”
Jimmy Abdo tied for 17th overall at +3 for the tournament. After a first round of +4, the sophomore shot rounds of +1 and -2 on Sunday.
Sam LaFrenz rallied from a +10 opening round to shoot -1 and -2 in the final rounds on Sunday, finishing the tournament tied for 33rd overall at +7.
Blake Forrest tied for 39th overall with a score of +8. The junior recorded rounds of +4, -1, and +5 over the three-round tournament.
Wyatt Carlson placed 57th overall at +12 for the tournament. The senior improved his score each round, going from +8 in round one, to +5 in round two, to -1 in round three.
The Gusties finished six strokes ahead of Bethel, who was the runner-up at +12. Carleton placed third at +14. UW-Stout took fourth at +35. Saint John’s and St. Olaf rounded out the top-five, tying for fifth at +40.
Up next for the Gusties is the three-day NCAA Preview starting Sunday, September 21 at Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.
