Victoria Larson / Winonan
While many avid golfers are waiting to hit the links this spring, the Winona State University men’s golf team is in full swing, as they rank third in the first NCAA Men’s Golf Regional Rankings released last Friday.
The only NSIC team to make the top 10, the Warriors sit behind Central Missouri University and Central Oklahoma University and are above Southwestern Oklahoma State University and Arkansas Tech.
Winona State head coach Jeff Straight said he was happy to learn about the rankings.
“We are pleased, as this was one of our goals to be ranked in the top 10. We put a plan together as a team almost a year ago and executed it very well last fall,” Straight said. “It is nice to be ranked right up there with elite teams like Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma who we have beat head to head last fall.”
The rest of the rankings of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships will be released Friday, April 22 on the NCAA website. A total of 10 teams and four individuals will be picked from each region to play in one of the four 54-hole tournaments, with the top three teams and two individuals advancing.
The Warriors traveled to Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo, Iowa for the 10-team Upper Iowa Spring Invite and finished third as a team. Bemidji State University and Minnesota State University, Mankato took first and second, respectively. Augustana University finished behind Winona State, while the University of Sioux Falls ended the day in fifth place.
Straight said he was pleased with the performance of his team despite the weather conditions.
“I am proud of my team and the effort they gave on the course this past weekend, conditions were extremely difficult, and it is not a course that our players enjoy playing,” Straight said. “We still got third which was very solid considering we did not play nearly as well as we wanted to.”
Winona State shot a 321 in the first round and improved to 315 in the second, finishing 60-over as a team.
Sophomore Jonathan Lindquist shot 79 in both rounds, while junior teammate Nick Hernandez fired a 78 and an 80. Both players tied for sixth for the invite at 14-over.
Senior Mitch Holm shot 83 in the opening round and improved with a 76 in the final round to tie for 13th at 15-over. First-year Michael Schmitz shot an 81 and 80 to tie for 20th at 17-over while senior Jake Olsonoski tied for 29th at 24-over after shooting an 83 and an 85.
Winona State will head to Smithville, Mo., for the NSIC Spring Championship on April 9 and 10.
Straight said he feels good about the upcoming meet.
“I have a very good feeling about this weekend and I think we will play well and we really like the golf course,” Straight said. “We won there a couple of weeks ago when most of our team was fighting severe colds/flu. We will just go out there and work hard, be mentally tough and enjoy this experience.”
