COON RAPIDS, Minn. – The first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championships of the 2022-23 academic year are set to tee off this weekend, as men's and women's golfers from the MIAC return to Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minn. for the 2022 MIAC Golf Championships.

This is the second consecutive season that Bunker Hills has hosted the MIAC Golf Championships. The venue previously served as the conference championship course for MIAC men's golfers for 20 years from 1997-2017 and for MIAC women's golfers for 11 years from 2006-2017 before renovations shifted the conference tournament to other courses around the State of Minnesota from 2018-21.

This weekend, nine men's teams and ten women's teams from the MIAC will head back to Bunker Hills for the three-day, 54-hole conference championship running from Saturday, October 1 through Monday, October 3. Bethel University and The College of St. Scholastica will serve as hosts.

CHAMPIONSHIP 101
Both men's and women's golfers will play the East then West courses each day. Each program will enter five players in the tournament, with the four best performances each day determining the team score. The team with the lowest score over the course of its respective tournament will receive the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the 2023 NCAA Division III Golf Championships.

Men's golf action will begin Saturday morning with the first wave of golfers set to tee off at 8:00 a.m. Teams are seeded based on their finish in the 2021 MIAC Championships and golfers will tee off in descending order of their place in the lineup (No. 5 to No. 1). The 2021 MIAC Champion Saint John's University Johnnies will tee off alongside Gustavus and Carleton to start the tournament at 8:00 a.m., with teams following in order of 2021 finish every eight minutes after. Concordia, Augsburg, and Bethel are tentatively set to begin teeing off at 8:40 a.m. on Saturday, followed by St. Olaf, Augsburg, and St. Scholastica at 9:20 a.m.

Tee times for MIAC women's teams will begin at 10:16 a.m., with defending champion St. Catherine University joining Gustavus and Bethel in the tee box. The second wave of women's golfers will feature Carleton, Saint Benedict, and St. Scholastica beginning at 10:56 a.m., followed by foursomes of Augsburg, St. Olaf, Macalester, and Concordia golfers at 11:36 a.m.

Barring any changes due to weather or course conditions, tee time slots are expected to remain the same throughout all three days of the tournament with the first wave of men's golfers beginning at 8:00 a.m. and the first wave of women's golfers beginning at 10:16 a.m. each day; however, the specific pairings for Sunday and Monday will be reordered according to the previous day's scores. Tentative tee times and pairings for the entire Men's and Women's tournaments are available online on the championship home page.

| 2022-23 Men's Golf Statistics | Men's Golf Record Book | 2022-23 Women's Golf Statistics | Women's Golf Record Book |

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Spectators are welcome to attend the 2022 MIAC Golf Championships at Bunker Hills Golf Club and must follow all local and spectator rules. Fans not in attendance in Coon Rapids can follow all the action via unofficial live scoring and hole-by-hole updates through Golfstat's live scoring system.

The MIAC has a championship home page for the event that will serve as the online home of the tournament. The championship page will include tee times, pairings, and results as they become available, as well as recaps and photos.

| Championship Home Page | Men's Live Scoring | Women's Live Scoring | Local Rules | Spectator Rules |

ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNERS
Eight former MIAC Men's Golf All-Championship Team honorees will be back on the course this weekend including Augsburg's Stellan Orvick (8th 2020) and River Goodmanson (T5th 2019); Carleton's Anderson Murphy (T7th 2021); Gustavus' Wyatt Wasko (T4th 2021); and Saint John's Nate Loxtercamp (2nd 2021), Thomas Gutzmer (T1st 2020, 10th 2021), Sam Berger (T4th 2021, 3rd 2020), and Blake Schuler (T7th 2021).

POLL TALK
Two MIAC men's golf teams received votes in the latest edition of the Bushnell Golfweek Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on September 9. Gustavus picked up 27 points in the balloting, while Saint John's was right behind with 26 points.

AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg junior Stellan Orvick (Minneapolis, Minn. | Washburn) led the way for the Auggies at the Twin Cities Classic over the weekend, finishing in a tie for 12th place in the 107-golfer field with a 229 (80-71-78) total.

Bethel senior Conor Schubring (St. Louis Park, Minn.) tallied 12 birdies at the Twin Cities Classic, finishing in BU's top spot for the fourth straight weekend. Schubring tied for eighth overall with a score of 228 (74-78-76).

Carleton sophomore Ryan Choi (Cockeysville, Md. | Dulaney) led the Knights at the Twin Cities Classic with a 12-over-par 228. Choi improved from a 76 (+4) and 78 (+6) on Saturday and Sunday with three birdies while shooting a 74 (+2) on Monday to slide up 11 spots in the standings and ultimately tie for eighth place out of 107 players in the field.

Concordia first-year Gabe Benson (Fargo, N.D. | Davies) fired three rounds in the 70s to lead the Cobbers at the Twin Cities Classic. Benson finished with a final total of 230 (75-78-77) to place 14th and record his third straight top-15 finish.

Gustavus senior Wyatt Wasko (Lake Elmo, Minn.) tied for eighth place at the Twin Cities Classic, shooting a three-round total of 228 (70-79-79). Wasko has placed in the top 10 at three meets this season and in the top five at two.

Macalester senior Fritz Gessl (Chester Springs, Pa. | Westtown) carded a three-day total of 245 (75-87-83) to lead the Scots at the Twin Cities Classic. Gessl tied for 62nd overall in a field of 107 competitors.

Saint John's junior Sam Berger (Waconia, Minn.) won his first collegiate tournament with a three-day total of 214 (-2) to help the Johnnies win the three-day Twin Cities Classic by 40 shots over the weekend. Berger was even-par on the 12 par-3 holes and 6-under on the 12 par-5 holes in the tournament. Berger shot minus-4 on his final nine holes with four birdies and five pars to record 71 (-1) on Monday at Edina Country Club and posted a career-low 68 (-4) on Sunday at the Links at Northfork in Ramsey.

St. Olaf junior Harry Olander (St. Paul, Minn. | Cretin-Derham Hall) recorded the Oles' top score for the weekend with a three-day 239 (+23) to tie for 36th at the Twin Cities Classic. Olander had his best round of the weekend on Saturday when he was one of four Oles to card a 78 (+6), posting identical 3-over scores of 39 on both sides.

St. Scholastica sophomore Jamin Durfee (Superior, Wis.) tied for 44th overall at the Saint John's Fall Invitational on 9/17-18. Durfee finished 14-over-par with a two-day score of 158 (76-82).

LEAGUE LEADERS