The Bethel University men’s golf team clinched its first victory of the season at the Minnesota Golf Classic at Pioneer Creek Golf Course in Maple Plain. The Royals looked to defend their title, after beating Gustavus a year ago, by 12 strokes for a combined one over par finish.
Senior Will Karkoc led the way for the Royals in the opening round with two birdies in the first three holes, finishing the front nine one-under-par. On the back nine, Karkoc found himself four under par — one stroke off the individual lead — after driving the green on the par four 16th hole. He then putted for his third birdie on the back nine.
Karkoc got in trouble on the 17th, hitting a ball out of bounds off the tee. Forced to take a penalty drop, Karkoc got up-and-down to save bogey. He finished the first round three-under-par, shooting a 69.
Bethel’s Jack Wellen shot a 73 in the opening round, with Jacob Ferrin and Jacob Hall each shooting 75 on Saturday afternoon.
The final two rounds of the tournament got underway early Sunday morning. The front nine gave Karkoc some trouble in the second round Karkoc, he shot a 37, with a double bogey on hole one and a bogey on hole two. However, he recovered well on the back nine with four birdies, shooting a 72 in the second round.
Jack Wellen bounced back from a tough two-over-par front nine with a pair of birdies on the 16th and 17th. Wellen finished the round with a score of 74.
After five bogeys on the front nine, Karkoc slid down on the individual leaderboard, shooting a 41 at the turn. From there a bogey on 11 and a double on 14 put him eight-over-par through 14. A birdie on the par-3 17th gave him a final round score of 80, and he finished the tournament five-over-par and 21st on the leaderboard.
Wellen finished the final round of the competition strong, with two birdies on the front nine to be two-under-par at the turn. He shot birdies on both the 10th and 12th hole to go four-under through 12.
The only blemish on his scorecard came at 14, where he bogeyed the par five. He shot even par the rest of the round to finish three-under-par, ending the tournament in fourth place.
Wellen’s final round score of 69 was just enough to edge out UW-Eau Claire’s Nick Amtmann, who shot a 70 in the final round. The Royals secured the title, narrowly defeating the Bluegolds with a 24-over-par finish.
The Royals will face off with the Blugolds again as they head to Eau Claire Sunday, Sept. 15 to participate in the Wrigglesworth Blugold invitational.
