Taylor Price / Winonan

The Winona State University men’s golf team began their season this weekend with a tournament in Bemidji, Minn. at the Bemidji Town and Country Club.

Winona state took fifth place in the tournament with a 601, one stroke behind the University of Manitoba.

Head coach Jeff Straight’s team is filled to the brim with young talent and he expects to have a great season.

“The guys are ready to get out there and play on a course that isn’t their home course. It will be good to get them out somewhere fresh,” Straight said. “We are also going to be playing the toughest competition.”

Straight shares his enthusiasm with this new wave of young talent.

“[I am] so excited for the future. Our top five is filled with a lot of young guys, and everyone is going to get to play two tournaments so everyone gets some experience,” Straight said.

Junior Jonathan Lindquist said that it felt different to be the one of the older guys on the team.

“It does feels weird being the only junior in the top five, but I am looking forward to it,” Lindquist said.

Sophomore Michael Schmitz is hopeful for their chances to make it to regionals.

“We’ve made a huge jump since the previous season, but we are going to have a tough schedule” Schmitz said.

The Warriors shot 306 as a team Sunday and posted 295 on Monday.

Lindquist lead the team on the first day with a 73. The Warriors were in seventh place at the end of day one.

“The course was very narrow and the high winds made it tough to find the fairway,” Lindquist said. “We are one of the longer teams so the wind had an effect.”

On day two, Schmitz shot a tournament-low 69 that helped bring the team back into fifth place.

“[Schmitz] didn’t seem too upset after the first day, he said he was hitting the ball well, just had a few tough breaks, and everybody has tough days sometimes,” Lindquist said.

The Warriors next tournament will be at Muskogee Golf Course in Muskogee, Okla. for the Northeastern State University Men’s Golf Classic.

-By Taylor Price