ST. PETER, Minn. — It was their first competition of the spring season, but you would never have known it by looking at the scoreboard.

The Saint Mary's University men's golf team kicked off their spring season by turning in rounds of 328-313-313—955 at the Gustie Spring Invitational Monday and Tuesday.

Just how could were the Cardinals? Two of their three rounds — Monday's second-round 314 and Tuesday's 313 — were better than any 18-hole round SMU turned in all fall. Leading the way for the Cardinals was freshman Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.), who posted three rounds in the 70s — 77-78-74—229.

Problem was, as good as Polk and the Cardinals were, most of the 14-team field was equally as impressive.

St. John's won the two-day event, posting an 885 three-round total, while Winona State was two shots back at 887, followed by Gustavus (892), UW-Eau Claire (894) and St. Thomas (906). Winona State's Troy Merritt, fueled by a tournament-record 66 on Tuesday, won medalist honors, carding rounds of 74-72-66—212. SJU's Kyle Fredrickson was second (69-74-71—214), while Eau Claire's Derek Pirkl (72-70-75—217) and Luther's Mike Eisele (73-67-77—217) tied for third.

"I was happy with the way we played — we improved with every round," said SMU coach Tom Farren. "This was a very good field — all the best teams around were here. It was good to see how we stack up against them."

Along with Polk's 229, which placed him 28th overall, SMU also got a 237 (84-75-78) from Scott Savage (Mahtomedi, Minn.) a 241 (84-78-79) from Mark Miller (Winona, Minn.), a 249 (83-83-83) from Kyle Roark (Waterloo, Iowa) and a 255 (87-86-82) from Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.).