ST. CLOUD, Minn. – On Saturday the Whitworth men's golf team put itself in position to challenge for first place at the Saint John's Fall Invitational, but the Pirates faded on Sunday and finished in fifth place.
Matthew Durkin finished in sixth place individually, shooting a 69-74 – 143 (-1). The round of 69 was played at St. Cloud Country Club on Saturday and the 73 was at Blackberry Ridge Golf Club on Sunday, where scores trended higher overall. Carleton's Sam Higaki ran away with the medal after shooting 65-71 – 136 (-8).
Whitworth shot 286 (-2) on Saturday, one of four schools to post a team score in the red and only three strokes behind eventual champion Carleton (Minn.). The Bucs followed with a score of 302 on Sunday (+14).
Tanner Smith (73-75 – 148) finished tied for 24th, along with Peyton Simonds (71-77 – 148). Andy Hobson (73-80 – 153) tied for 46th and Max Hosfeld (78-76 – 154) tied for 51st. There were 119 players in the field.
The final team scores were: Carleton 569, Willamette and Bethel (B) 579, St. John's 580, Whitworth 588, St. Olaf 593, St. John's (B) 593, Manitoba (594), Bethel 596, Concordia (MN) 601, Wis.-Superior 606, Linfield 608, St. John's (C) 615, Grinnell 622, Macalester 625, Alexandria T&CC 628, Augsburg 634, Alexandria T&CC (B) 635, Wis.-Superior (B) 658.
The Pirates will return to action next Monday and Tuesday at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational in Dupont, Washington.
