Results
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Olaf won the first two singles matches of the day but Macalester bounced back to win the next two and the teams split the final two as they settled for a 3-3 tie in the Scots final fall event of 2014 at the Highland National Golf Course.
The match got off to a quick start for St. Olaf as Chris Winge shot three-under par in winning eight of 12 holes from
Jack Buan for an 8-and-6 victory.
James Meyerson, who hadn't played a competitive round for the Scots in nearly a month, fired a 77 for his round and led, 1-up, through 10 holes, but Matt Boeker of St. Olaf won three holes, lost one and halved four over the final eight to claim a 1-up win and give the Oles a 2-0 lead.
The second group of the day featured
Blaze Beecher taking on St. Olaf's Matt Petterson and
Josh Wingardner challenging the Oles' Phillip Boldt.
Beecher was three strokes better than Petterson at last weekend's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships over 54 holes and he continued to outplay his counterpart, despite missing several short putts. Beecher shot 39 on the frount nine and took a 4-up lead before the duo trade wins on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes, which Beecher taking two of those to claim a 5-and-3 victory.
Boldt beat out Wingardner by four strokes last weekend and the pair battled back and forth in their match as Wingardner won the first and third holes, with Boldt taking the second, to go ahead, 1-up.
The duo would not half any of the first nine holes as Boldt grabbed a 2-up lead by going par-birdie-par to win the fourth, fifth and sixth holes but Wingardner took advantage of three Boldt bogies to win the seventh, eight and ninth holes.
Wingarder then took a 2-up lead when he parred the par-5 12th hole but then bogied the next two holes to to square the match. A victory on the 15th restored his lead and a par was good enough to win the 17th hole and give him a 2-and-1 win.
With the team's tied, 2-2, the match was in the hands of the teams' top two golfers with
Drew Gumlia facing St. Olaf's Charlie Johnson while
Dan Shi took on the Oles' J.R. Shimpach.
Gumlia shot a one-over par, 37, on front nine and was 4-up through seven holes and led, 3-up, after nine. However, Shimpach was en route to taking a 2-up led over Shi and, after losing his only hole of the day, on the fourth, he went on to win four holes and sealed a 4-and-3 win after 15.
That loss left the match in Gumlia's hands and the second-year Scot was consistent over the final nine holes, giving up two holes but halving the 18th to complete a 1-up victory and square the team competition.
