Men's Golf

2025 MIAC Men's Golf Championship Preview

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. – Championship season officially begins for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) this weekend as the 2025 MIAC Men’s Golf Championships are set to tee off on Saturday morning at Edinburgh Golf Course in Brooklyn Park.
 
The nine men’s golf teams from around the conference will begin the three-day, 54-hole conference championship this Saturday, September 27, and crown the MIAC champion on Monday, September 29.
CHAMPIONSHIP 101
Each MIAC team will enter five players in the tournament, with the program’s four best performances each day determining the team's score. The team with the lowest score throughout the tournament will receive the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the 2026 NCAA Division III Golf Championships.

Action will begin Saturday morning with the first wave of golfers set to tee off at 10:27 a.m. Teams are seeded based on their finish in the 2024 MIAC Championships and golfers will tee off in descending order of their place in the lineup (No. 5 to No. 1). The 2024 MIAC Champion Carleton Knights will tee off alongside Bethel and Saint John’s to start the tournament at 10:27 a.m., with teams following in order of 2024 finish every nine minutes after. Concordia, Gustavus, and Macalester are tentatively set to begin teeing off at 11:12 a.m. on Saturday, followed by St. Olaf, Augsburg, and St. Scholastica at 11:57 a.m.

Sunday’s tee times are also set to begin at 10:27 a.m., while Monday’s final round is slated for an 8:48 a.m. start. Specific pairings for Sunday and Monday will be reordered from high to low according to the previous day's scores. Tentative tee times and pairings for the tournament will be available online on the championship home page.

| 2025-26 Men's Golf Statistics | Men's Golf Record Book |
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Spectators are welcome to attend the 2025 MIAC Golf Championships at the Edinburgh Golf Course and must follow all local and spectator rules. Please be advised that there will be no spectator carts available for use at Edinburgh.
 
Fans not in attendance in Brooklyn Park can follow the unofficial live scoring on Scoreboard powered by Clippd.
 
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 | Live Scoring |
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNERS
Six former MIAC Men's Golf All-Championship Team honorees will be back on the course this weekend, including Carleton’s Sam Higaki (3rd 2024, T8th 2023); Concordia’s Jack Hanson (T6th 2024) and Ryan Engel  (T9th 2024); Gustavus’ Chris Gutuza (2nd 2024, T6th 2023); Saint John’s Tim Fultz (4th 2024) and Gavin Grahek (T9th 2024).
IN THE POLLS
Four MIAC men's golf teams received votes in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek DIII Coaches Poll, released on September 19. Gustavus, Saint John’s, Bethel, and Carleton all made appearances on voter ballots.
AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg first-year Jack Berry (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) tied for fifth with a 4-over par 148 at the Twin Ports Collegiate on 9/6-7. Berry shot a 3-under-par 69 in his opening round, which featured six birdies, then followed it up with a 79 in round two. Berry has carded the Auggies’ three lowest rounds of the fall season.
 
Bethel Carson Hannestad (Fargo, N.D. / North) led the way for the Royals at the Minnesota Golf Classic on 9/6-7, finishing first among all NCAA Division III golfers and placing fourth overall in the three-round event. Hannestad carded rounds of 69 (-3), 69 (-3), and 73 (+1) to post a 5-under par 211. Hannestad’s strong play helped propel Bethel to a runner-up team finish.

Carleton junior Sam Higaki (San Mateo, Calif. / Aragon) earned medalist honors at the Saint John’s Fall Invitational on 9/20-21 with a two-round score of 136 (-8). Higaki tied his career low with a 7-under par 65 in the first round before shooting a 1-under par 71 in round two. Over the two-day tournament, Higaki played the par 4s at 6-under-par and had eleven birdies on the weekend.

Concordia junior Ryan Engel (Twin Valley, Minn. / Ada-Borup-West) paced the Cobbers at the Frank Wigglesworth Blugold Invitational on 9/14-15 with a 3-over-par score of 145 to place fourth overall. Engel shot a 72 with four birdies in round one and followed up with a 73 and three birdies in round two. He has placed among the top ten golfers in two of his three tournaments this fall.
 
Gustavus senior Chris Gutuza (Johannesburg, South Africa / Bishops Diocesan College) led the Gusties to a comeback victory at the Minnesota Golf Classic by shooting a 9-under-par 63 in the third round on 9/7. Gutuza's tally over the final 18 holes broke the program record for the lowest single-round score in Gustavus history and is now the lowest 18-hole total in recorded MIAC history. The previous records were set at 65 and 64, respectively. Gutuza tied for fifth place overall among the 110 competitors with a 4-under-par 212 (77-72-63) across the three-round tournament at Pioneer Creek Golf Course in Maple Plain, Minnesota. The Gusties posted a program record-low 274 (-14) in the final round to claim the team title by six shots.

Macalester first-year Ray Zhang (San Ramon, Calif. / Dougherty Valley) tied for fourth at the Wisconsin Lutheran Fall Invitational on 9/13-14 with a 2-over par 146 at Washington County Golf Course in Hartford, Wisconsin. Zhang carded back-to-back scores of 73 to tie for the second-lowest 36-hole tournament total in program history.
 
Saint John’s sophomore Gavin Grahek (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) earned the first medalist honor of his career with a 1-under-par 141 at UW-Eau Claire's Frank Wrigglesworth Blugold Invitational on 9/14-15. Grahek placed first out of 120 golfers, helping the Johnnies to a third-place finish as a team. Grahek began the tournament with a 2-under par 69 on 9/14 and went -2 in his final 11 holes to finish with a 1-over par 72 on 9/15. He was -4 on the par-5 holes, +1 on the par-4 holes, and tied for second with seven birdies.
 
St. Olaf senior Isaac Schmidt (Madison, Wis. / Memorial) was the runner-up at the Saint John's Fall Invitational on 9/20-21 with a 5-under par score of 136. Schmidt’s score is the lowest 36-hole tournament total by an Ole since at least 2009-10, and came on a weekend where Schmidt ranked second in the field with 10 birdies, second in par-three scoring (-1), and tied for sixth in par-four scoring (-1).

St. Scholastica sophomore Jon Bertram (Appleton, Wis. / Xavier) tallied a two-round score of 149 (+5) to tie for seventh on the individual leaderboard at the Twin Ports Collegiate on 9/6-7. Bertram shot a 2-over par 74 in round one and carded a 3-over 75 in round two. His season-opening 72 in the first round of the Augsburg Invitational on 8/30-31 is tied for the lowest single-round score by a Saints men’s golfer since joining the MIAC in 2021-22.