University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall Season on Par
11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Scores fell, records broke and improvements were made as the Gophers wrapped up a memorable fall season. As Minnesota prepares for its winter break, we take a look at what made this fall season so special.
Thomas Longbella's quick start: Longbella made his Minnesota debut at the Gopher Invitational and has been a staple in the lineup ever since. In the first five tournaments of his career, the freshman has been a top-three scorer for the Gophers. His best finish came at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate where he gave Minnesota its top performance of the year. Longbella tied for sixth at Royal Oaks, carding a team-best 4-under-par 209. He ends the fall leading the team in stroke average at 71.33, scores counted with 15 and is second on the team in rounds below par with six.
Gophers post their lowest round since 1998: Minnesota got off to an incredibly fast start at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. In the opening round, the Gophers carded 15-under-par 269, their best score since 1998. Every competitor hit under or even par with Rúnar Arnorsson leading with way with an incredible 7-under-par 64, the third lowest score in program history.
| ALISTER MACKENZIE INVITATIONAL ROUND ONE | ||
| Minnesota | 269 | -15 |
| Rúnar Arnorsson | 64 | -7 |
| Thomas Longbella | 67 | -4 |
| Riley Johnson | 69 | -2 |
| Peter Jones | 69 | -2 |
| Justin Doeden | 71 | E |
Justin Doeden's four straight top-20 finishes: Doeden got off to a fast start this fall, recording four top-20 finishes in as many tournaments. He doubled his top-20 finishes from last year's fall and spring seasons. During that remarkable streak, he finished 11th at the Gopher Invitational, 20th at the Inverness Intercollegiate, 18th at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and 13th at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. The senior averaged 71.16 strokes per round through the first four tournaments of the fall.
Longbella records second lowest round in program history: The freshman finished out the season strong at the Ka'anapali Classic. Not only did he pick up his second straight top-20 finish, in the process he carded the second best round in program history. In his second round of the tournament, he shot 8-under-par 63, the best round since Arnorsson broke the program record last fall. Longbella shot a boogey-less round and sunk eight birdies on the way to his incredible round.
| Thomas Longbella AT KA'ANAPALI ROUND 2 | ||||||||||
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | T |
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 37 |
| Score | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 33 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | T |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 71 |
| Score | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 63 |
Steady improvements throughout the season: Minnesota's scores in each of its fall tournaments trended downward. The team's highest score came at the first tournament of the season, where the Gophers shot 34-over-par 884. For the rest of the season, the team never got within 10 strokes of that score. The Gophers improved to 21-over at Inverness then dropped a staggering 36 strokes off their score to reach 17-under at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. Though their score went up the next week at Royal Oaks, the Gophers finished a solid performance in Hawai'i as they totaled 6-over-par 858.
| GOPHERS TOURNAMENT-BY-TOURNAMENT SCORES | ||
| Gopher Invitational | 884 | +34 |
| Inverness Intercollegiate | 873 | +21 |
| Alister Mackenzie Invitational | 835 | -17 |
| Royal Oaks Intercollegiate | 1079 | +14 |
| Ka'anapali Classic | 858 | +6 |
Individually, most Gophers that cracked the lineup on a weekly basis showed substantial improvements from last season. During the 2016-2017 season, Doeden averaged 74.25 strokes a round. This season, he dropped almost three strokes off his game from last year with an average of 71.40. Riley Johnson is perhaps the Gophers' most improved golfer, improving his average from last year by nearly four strokes. He averaged 76.19 last season. This fall he averaged 72.26.
Though he was not on the team last year, Longbella has improved from week to week this year. His average three tournaments into the fall was 72.56, good enough for third on the team. His final two performances pushed him into first place in stroke average with 71
