NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Third-season head coach
Todd Petterson and the St. Olaf College men's golf team are set to open the 2019-20 season this weekend at the Culver's Edgewood College Fall Classic, as they aim to build off a fifth-place showing at last season's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Golf Championship.
In the 2018-19 season, St. Olaf's fifth-place finish at the MIAC Championship was its highest finish at the conference meet since 2011. Earlier in the season, the Oles tallied three-straight team titles in September and had an individual medalist at all three of those tournaments.
The run of three consecutive tournament titles started with the Cobber Fall Invitational, where the Oles won a tiebreaker over the Cobbers and Kristian Leik Woie won the individual crown. The next week, Leik Woie, Steven Magagna and
Noah Parker tied for first to help St. Olaf top Macalester and Carleton in a triangular. The Oles won their third-straight title the following week at the Saint Mary's Invitational, where
Adrian Edralin led St. Olaf and won the individual title with a two-round 147 (+5).
This fall, St. Olaf returns six members of last season's team in Edralin,
Ben Johnson,
Seth Johnson,
Steve MacIver,
Casey Parker and
Noah Parker. The Oles welcome two first years and sophomore transfer
Cooper Lukenda to help replace four graduates, including Leik Woie, who led last season's team with an average round of 77.7 strokes and was the team's top finisher at the MIAC Championship (t-15th).
Casey Parker's average of 78.0 strokes per round last season is the lowest mark of any returner and he posted rounds of 72 (E) and 73 (+1) to start the MIAC Chapmionship before finishing tied for 18th. Older brother Noah and Edralin both averaged 78.4 strokes per round, while
Ben Johnson also averaged better than an 80 (79.3).
After opening the season at the Culver's Edgewood College Fall Classic, St. Olaf continues its fall schedule with the annual triangular against Macalester and Carleton on Sept. 14-15 before heading to Sartell to for the Saint John's Fall Invitational on Sept. 21-22. The 2019 MIAC Men's Golf Championship concludes the team's fall season on Oct. 5-7 at the Ridges at Sand Creek.
