Macalester Men's and Women's Golf week 1 and 2 update

The Macalester men's and women's golf teams played their first competitions of the fall over the past two weekends. The women played in Eau Claire, WI and then the week after in Waverly, IA. The men played dual matches at Highland National Golf Course in St. Paul and at The Summit Golf Course in Cannon Falls, MN the first week and played in the Augsburg Invitational this past weekend.

Karla Leon '10 led the entire field after the first day at the UW Eau Claire Fall Invite with a 3-over 75. Jordan Matheson '09 was tied for 4th after the first round, finishing two strokes behind Leon with a 77. The rest of the team all posted scores in the 90s, leading Macalester to sit in a tie for 7th in the team standings at the halfway point.

The second day the golf course played switched from Mill Run Golf Course to Wild Ridge Golf Course, and it proved to be a much tougher round. The whole team shot higher scores than they did the first day, with Matheson leading the way with an 85 and Leon coming in with an 87. Matheson and Leon's two day score of 162 put them tied for 10th at the end of the tournament, but the team as a whole slipped back to 14th place on the second day.

“We did not capitalize on the success we had on the first day,” Matheson said. “But there are a lot of positives we can take from this.”

The women were more successful the following weekend in the Wartburg Women's Fall Invite in Waverly, IA. Matheson posted scores of 82 and 76 to finish tied for 7th in the tournament, and combined the team posted a two day total of 679, good enough for a solid 6th place finish out of 17 teams. Ali Fuhrman '10 and Meredith Wisniewski '09 posted career lows for a competitive round on the second day, posting 82 and 95 respectively.

The men played one day dual matches against two different schools over the three day Labor Day weekend. They started off with a hard fought 302-304 win over Concordia St. Paul at Highland National Golf Course on Saturday, and finished the weekend with a 330-344 win over St. Mary's to win the Mac Mary Dual on Monday at The Summit Golf Course. Both victories were encouraging since Macalester lost in both events last year and hadn't won the dual against St. Mary's since 2004.

Ryan Peters '10 led the team on Saturday, chasing a score in the 60s, but finishing up with a 71. Ben Langworthy '11 was next lowest with a 75, followed by 76s from Matt Arck '09 and Nick Santrach '11. Santrach posted the low for Macalester on Monday with an 80, also winning second place in the dual. Arck followed with an 82, and Langworthy and Ross Donihue '11 rounded out the top four with a pair of 84s.

At the Augsburg Invitational, Langworthy blazed through the weekend with scores of 75 on both days, finishing the tournament in a tie for 5th. Arck and Santrach finished the weekend tied with a combined total of 163, and Peters and Daniel Kerwin '10 both finished with a total of 167. Overall the team placed 10th out of 17 teams. Langworthy's score of 75 on the second day, which included 6 birdies, was among the best of the day for the entire tournament field at Crow River golf course, which turned out to play as a harder course than Oakdale Golf Course did the day before.

“I feel as though I can win tournaments, there's nothing stopping me if I play as well as I'm capable of,” Langworthy said. “But I'm not the only guy on the team who's capable of winning.”

Both teams are in action again next weekend, with the women playing in the Division III Midwest Classic, and the men playing in the St. John's Invitational.