WINONA, Minn. — It was supposed to be their home turf, a place where the Saint Mary's University women's golf team should have the upper hand on their opponents.

Last Friday and Saturday at the SMU Invitational, however, Cedar Valley Golf Course was anything but friendly to the host Cardinals, as SMU struggled to a fifth-place finish in the five-team field.

"We were very close to putting up some very good numbers on the first day, but Cedar Valley can really bite you," said SMU coach Dan Messmann. "And (the course) definitely bit us this weekend."

Yet, while the SMU women struggled on their home course, the Cardinal men feasted on some home cooking in their dual meet against Winona State at the Winona Country Club.

The Cardinals were good in their two-day season-opener last Saturday and Sunday — very good.

Problem was, Winona State was better.

Despite shooting an impressive 625 two-day total — including a 76-74—150 from Eric Thom (Portland, Ore.) — the Cardinals were no match for the Warriors, losing the dual meet 602-625.

"We turned in two days of consistent scores that were awfully good," said SMU coach Tom Farren. "Winona State had a phenomenal two days. If we can continue to turn in scores like we did, we are going to be just fine."

D.J. Schweitzer (McHenry, Ill.), who shot a first-round medalist score of three-over 74, added a 79 in Day 2 to finish at 153. Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.) posted a pair of 79s for a 158 total, while Mark Miller (Winona, Minn. / 83-81—164) and Tom Johnston (St. Paul, Minn. / 89-86—175) rounded out the Cardinals' top five.

Winona State ran away with the women's tournament title as well, with the Warriors' top team placing first, while their second team was second. UW-River Falls finished third, followed by Luther and Saint Mary's.

"We had a couple of nice rounds, but we need to get our scores down across the board," said Messmann, whose team was led by Andrea Hanke's (Janesville, Wis.) 86-86—172 and a 186 (93-93) by Dani Lynch (Williston, N.D.). "Our first day score (370) wasn't too bad — and it had the potential to be a lot better — but our second day wasn't that great. We've got to get more consistent if we are going to make any type of move (at the conference tournament)."