SARTELL, Minn. – The Carleton College men's golf team won the 19-team Saint John's Fall Invitational by 10 strokes. Junior
Sam Higaki was the tournament's medalist, winning the event by three strokes.
The Knights opened the weekend with a 283 (-5) in the first round played at St. Cloud Country Club on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead, and they came back with a 286 (-2) in Sunday's final round contested at Blackberry Ridge Golf Club to secure the win with a total of 569 (-7).
Carleton, which received votes in the most recent Bushnell/Golfweek DIII Coaches Poll, finished ten strokes clear of No. 25 Willamette University and (RV) Bethel University, who posted team scores of 579 (+3). Tournament host (RV) Saint John's University was fourth at 580 (+4)
Higaki tied his career low when he carded a 65 (-7) in the first round and added a 71 (-1) on day two to finish the tournament at eight-under-par (136), good for a three-stroke margin of victory over St. Olaf's Isaac Schmidt. Higaki's steady round on Sunday included 15 pars, two birdies, and one bogey to maintain the lead over the field of 119 golfers. Over the two-day tournament, Higaki played the par 4s at six-under-par and had eleven birdies, which were both best in the field.
Justin Rodriguez and
Dillon Croco finished in a tie for tenth place. Rodriguez carded a two-under-par in the final round to move up the leaderboard. He played the par 5s at four-under-par and completed the tournament at one-over-par (75+70=145). Croco played the par 3s at even par on his way to the same final score (+1, 71+74=145) as Rodriguez.
Austin Mak finished the day at one-under-par with a round that included five birdies as he finished in a tie for 16th place (+2, 75+71=146).
Gordon Walker followed with a tournament total of 151 (+7) and tied for 40th place (72+79).
Gareth Birney and
Oscar Peche competed as individual entrants and finished at +11 (78-77=155) and +14 (79-79=158), respectively.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton heads to the MIAC Championships to be held Sept. 27-29 at Edinburgh Golf Course in Brooklyn Park.
