BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. - The Carleton College men's golf team finished in third place at the 2025 MIAC Championships. Sam Higaki and Gordon Walker both earned spots on the All-Tournament Team with top ten finishes.

Bethel University earned the MIAC title with a 27-over-par score of 891 for the 54-hole tournament. They finished five shots ahead of runner-up Gustavus Adolphus College at 896 (+32), followed by Carleton in third place at 901 (+37). In fourth place was St. Olaf College (+53, 917), then Macalester College (+58, 922) in fifth place, and Saint John's University (+62, 926) in sixth place.

"The team played great today, hats off to Bethel, they had an amazing day," said Carleton head coach Sloan Wallgren. "The boys gave it everything they had, we just came up a little short. I'm super proud of the effort and grit of the entire team."

Higaki carded a 76 for the final round to lead the Knights and earn a sixth-place finish. The junior played the front nine at four-over-par and finished the back nine at even-par with one bogey, one birdie, and seven pars. His tournament total score was six-over-par (77+69+76=222).

Walker had his best round of the tournament on Monday, tying for the low score of the day at two-under-par. The senior shot an eagle on hole nine, a par-five. He had three birdies on the back nine on his way to a round of 70. Walker played the par 4s at two-over-par and the par 5s at six-under-par, both of which were best in the field over the final round. He finished in fifth place with a tournament total of seven-over-par (78+75+70=223).
 
Junior Justin Rodriguez completed the tournament at ten-over-par and tied for eleventh place. In the final round, he shot even-par on the front nine with birdies on holes five, eight, and nine and four-over on the back nine for a round of 74. His total score for the tournament was 226 (78+74+74).

First-year Austin Mak rounded out the scoring for the Knights with a five-over-par 77 and a tie for 25th place. He moved up five spots on the leaderboard in his best round of the tournament. Mak started the day with two bogeys followed by two birdies on his way to one-under-par on the front nine. His final score in his first conference championship was a +19 (79+79+77=235).

Sophomore Dillon Croco carded an 80 (+8) in Monday's round and tied for 23rd place at +18 (74+80+80=234). Croco also had an eagle on hole nine to complete the front nine at one-under-par.

"We are now going to take a couple of days off, then get ready for the Twin Cities next weekend," said Wallgren, "followed by the Golfweek Invite in two weeks."

Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will play at the Twin Cities Classic on Oct. 4-6. The first round will be held at Elk River Country Club in Elk River, Minn.