The Johnnie golf team goes for its 16th conference title at the three-day MIAC Championships this Saturday-Monday, Sept. 27-29, at Edinburgh G.C. (par 72) in Brooklyn Park. – Live Scoring
TEE TIMES: The Johnnies are scheduled to tee off at 10:27 a.m. Saturday. The pairings for Saturday’s opening round were based on last year’s results. Pairings for Sunday (10:27 a.m.) and Monday (8:48 a.m.) will be determined by the previous day’s standings and scores.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John’s finished fourth out of 19 teams at its Fall Invitational last Saturday-Sunday (Sept. 20-21). Carleton shot the day’s best round – a 2-under par 286 – to win the tournament by 10 shots with a two-day total of 569 (-7). Bethel’s second team tied with Willamette (Ore.) for second at 579 (+3), one shot ahead of the Johnnies in fourth (+4, 580). Whitworth (Wash.) was fifth (+12, 588). The Knights’ Sam Higaki followed Saturday’s 7-under par 65 with a 71 (-1) to earn medalist honors at 136 (-8), three shots ahead of St. Olaf’s Isaac Schmidt in second (-5, 139).
Senior Tim Fultz (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) led the Johnnies with a two-day 68-72-140 (-4) to finish third out of 119 golfers. He shot even-par 72 on Sunday, collecting a pair of birdies on the front nine – including a two-shot birdie on No. 9 – but bogeyed twice in the back nine for an even-par 72.
Freshman Austin Roloff (Minneapolis, Minn./Spring Lake Park) was three-under on the back nine to jump 29 golfers on the leaderboard with a 2-under par 70. He carded back-to-back birdies on holes 12 and 13 and another on 17 to finish 10th overall. Sophomore Gavin grahek (Maple Grove, Minn.) took 20th after three doubles and a bogey ended in a Sunday 76. Senior Gus Briguet (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) finished 24th with a 75 and a trio of birdies in his final round.
Senior Ethan Kress (Woodbury, Minn.) led the 19 Johnnies with five birdies Sunday for a 2-under par 70 to tie for seventh overall with an even-par 144 to lead SJU Blue, which tied for sixth at 593 (+17). Freshman Lukas Ehmke (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) tied for 24th with a 148 (+4).
Sophomores Mac Drake (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman) and Marty Timmons (Brainerd, Minn.) finished in a tie for 35th to lead SJU White, which ended the weekend in 13th (+39, 615).
Sju’s history: The Johnnies have finished second or better at the MIAC Championships 21 of the last 26 seasons, including 14 conference titles.
THE WINNER: The MIAC champion earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships on May 12-15 at Mission Resort + Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
SJU’S FIVESOME: SJU is scheduled to send these five golfers this weekend to the MIAC Championships:
1. Grahek
2. Appelhof
3. Fultz
4. Kress
5. Roloff
LAST YEAR’S TOURNEY: Then-No. 14 SJU tied for second out of nine teams at last year’s MIAC Championships held Oct. 5-7 (2024) at Braemar G.C. (par 72) in Edina. Carleton won its first MIAC title with a three-round total of 874 (+10). The Knights extended their lead from 12 shots to 18 thanks to a final-round score of 285 (-3) that included four eagles and a pair of 67’s (-5) from Ryan Choi and Sam Higaki. Choi earned medalist honors with a 212 (-4).
SJU and then-No. 16 Bethel tied for second at 892 (+28), followed by Concordia-Moorhead at 899 (+35) and then-No. 24 Gustavus Adolphus at 902 (+38).
The Johnnies were -6 at the turn during the final round but struggled again on the back nine, going +12 on Nos. 10-15.
A pair of fresh faces to SJU’s varsity last fall, Fultz and Grahek, earned All-MIAC honors (top 10). Fultz led SJU all three rounds and finished fourth out of 45 golfers with a 1-over par 217. He collected six birdies during the final round for a then-career-low 69 (-3) and tied for first in the tournament with 34 pars. Grahek posted a 1-over par 73 to claim ninth with a 224 (+8).
Andrew Boemer ’25 birdied No. 18 for a 2-over par 74 and a three-day total of 225 (+9) to tie for 11th. He eagled the par-5 No. 8 (515 yards) and registered three other birdies. Briguet followed with a 75 (+3) and tied for 16th with a 226 (+10), while Kress tied for 35th with a 243 (+27).
