Kilat Fitzgerald/Winonan
After finishing second in the NSIC Championship two weeks ago, the Winona State University men’s golf team placed fourth at the Holiday Inn Express Classic, with first-year Michael Schmitz representing the Warriors in second place out of 100 golfers.
The 20-team event was Winona State’s final golf tournament for the fall in St. Joseph, Mo.
“What a good weekend it was for us,” head coach Jeff Straight reflected. “We’re fourth, but we should have won.”
Schmitz gave a consistent performance throughout the 54-hole tournament, becoming one of just two golfers to shoot under par. He shot a final round 72 after opening rounds of 69 and 70 to finish at 2-under for the entire tournament. Schmitz ended only one shot back of the winner Brent Williamson of Northeastern State.
“One little three-foot putt would’ve made a difference. We’re pretty happy with where we are, but we’re never satisfied. We’re going to work really hard during the off season,” Straight said.
As a team, Winona State maintained consistency by becoming one of three teams to keep their combined score under 300 in all three rounds.
On Tuesday, the Warriors shot 295 – an improvement over their Monday performances of 291 and 299. The Warriors secured a total score of 885 (+33), just two shots back of Northwestern State (+31) who took third place. Central Missouri (+19) and Central Oklahoma (+22) finished in first and second, respectively.
Sophomore Jonathan Lindquist shot a 71, a tournament-best in the final round, to improve to a 16th place tie. Also in the final round, senior Mitch Holm fired a score of 74 to tie for 27th place. Nick Hernandez finished with a tie for 36th while Jake Olsonoski tied for 82nd.
Straight said the closing tournament of the fall season left the Warriors in good standing, especially how the team managed to bring the best out of its players.
“My top three guys are competing against each other. That’s great to see who can play best,” Straight said.
The method of improvement got results when the Warriors were pitted against teams from multiple parts of the country.
“Nine of the 10 teams that made it to super regionals were there,” Straight said. “We beat six of them.”
