The UW-Eau Claire men’s golf team competed in the Saint John’s Spring Invitational over the weekend at Territory Golf Club and Monticello Country Club in St. Cloud, Minnesota where they finished fourth overall.

The invitational consisted of 16 teams with a total of 93 golfers competing.

After one round of play Saturday at Territory Golf Club, the Blugolds tied for second place with Augsburg College. They tallied a team score of 295 points on Saturday, trailing Saint John’s who led with 292.

Eau Claire’s team comprised freshman Michael Immekus, freshman Alex Rogan, junior Ryan Isaacson, senior Brady Hanson and senior Joey Dreier.

Immekus and Rogan led Eau Claire with 72 points, putting them in a tie for fourth place on Saturday, while Hanson followed with a 75 and was tied for 18th.

“I would say the tournament went well, especially the first day being in second place in a very competitive field,” Immekus said.

The Blugolds continued the invitation on Sunday for round two at Monticello Country Club. The teams were supposed to play 36 holes broken up into two rounds on Sunday for a total of three rounds for the Saint John’s Invitational. However due to inclement weather conditions, the third round was cancelled.

After Sunday’s play, Eau Claire finished the tournament in fourth place with a team score of 593.

Immekus tied for 11th place overall finishing round two with a total score of 147.

“We played much better as a team on Saturday compared to Sunday, but the conditions were difficult on Sunday,” Immekus said. “The team did really well staying positive and motivated throughout the tournament. It is really easy to get discouraged in tough weather, and our team was one of the most positive.”

Drier finished the tournament in a tie for 15th place with a total score of 148, while Rogan tied for 20th after shooting a 149 in total.

“We went into the round with the mindset of grinding out 36 holes in terrible weather,” Dreier said. “For the most part, the weather in the first round wasn’t as bad as we were expecting. It was still blowing 20 mph, plus mixed in with some rain and snow with 40 degree weather. However, the tournament got the last 18 holes cancelled which was really frustrating because we were all starting to play really well.” 

Hanson and Isaacson finished in a tie for 33rd place after both shooting a score of 152 in total.

As a senior, this tournament was Dreier’s last regular season tournament of his career. He said he was proud of the way he played his last nine holes of the invite.

“Right now, personally I’m staying positive and hopeful on having a shot at going to nationals,” Dreier said. “It has been our goal all season and my goal my whole career. I hope I have the opportunity to see it up one more time as a Blugold.”

Starting May 16, the men’s golf team hopes to begin the NCAA Division III Championship round at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.