SMU Golf

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The conditions were far from ideal, but the Saint Mary's University men's golf team made the best of it Saturday and Sunday at the Saint John's Invitational.

"It was tough to play," said SMU coach Tom Farren. "The wind, the cold, it was pretty miserable out there."

Yet, despite everything that Mother Nature could throw at them, the Cardinals were up to the task, shooting rounds of 324-325—649 to place 11th in the 19-team field.

"I'm pretty happy with our performance," said Farren, whose Cardinals were led by Scott Savage (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.). "We're still not where we need to be if we are going to be competitive at the MIAC Championships, but I thought we did all right."

Savage turned in the Cardinals' lone sub-80 round, carding a first-round 77 on Saturday. He then followed that up with an 80 for a 157 total. Polk, meanwhile, chipped in an 81-81—162, while Bill Ryan (Western Springs, Ill. / 85-80—165), Tony Hynes (Lino Lakes, Minn. / 84-84—168) and Josh Wendel (Rosemount, Minn. / 87-84—171) rounded out SMU's lineup.

"We need to get those scores down," Farren said. "We've still go a couple of weeks (before the MIAC), so hopefully we can turn things around a bit."