BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The UW-Eau Claire men's golf team finished the Gustavus Adolphus Twin Cities Classic today in third place, with Derek Bauer (Sr. -Inver Grove Heights, MN/Eagan) earning a second place finish.

The Blugolds shot second best today, taking 301 strokes. Combined with their scores of 296 and 297 from the first two days, they totaled 894 strokes. The only other team that shot better than the Blugolds today was invite champion St. John's. The Johnnies had been in second place the first two days, but following their 295 stroke performance today, they nudged host Gustavus Adolphus from the top spot.

Gustavus finished the event shooting 308 today, for a total of 887 strokes, good enough for second. After the Blugolds, the next closest team was Nebraska Wesleyan, who was 13 strokes behind the Blugolds. Central College ended the event fifth with a total of 927 strokes.

The Blugolds 894-stroke performance was the third best score the Blugolds had at the Twin Cities Classic since 2000. The Blugolds won have won the classic the last two years. Their score of 914 was good enough for first place last year, while they shot an 892 in 2005 to become the champions.

Senior Derek Bauer played very consistent at the classic, shooting 72 the first day, and 74 the second and third. His score of 220 put him in a four-way tie for second place. Gustavus' Jordan Hawkinson and St. John's Matt Bohlig and Joe Daly were the other golfers in the second spot. St. John's Joe Schoolmeesters, who was in the ninth spot after day two, won the event, having the best third-day total of 70, three under par. Schoolmeesters finished tied for 11th last year at the classic, while Bauer finished tied for 14th.

For the Blugolds, senior Peter Wendt (Lake Mills, WI) shot par in the final day, moving up five places from yesterday to end tied for tenth with 224 strokes. His 73-stroke performance was the second best of the day, tied with one other golfer, and was only behind Schoolmeesters. Senior Mason Milner (Onalaska) was third on the team, also shooting very consistent with scores of 75 the first day, 76 the second and 75 the third, for a total of 226 strokes. He finished in 14th place overall. Sophomore Ben Ziemann (Eau Claire/Memorial) lost ground today slipping from 11th to tied for 18th, though he was only two strokes behind Milner. Sophomore Aaron Nelson (River Falls) was the last Blugold to compete at the classic and finished tied for 25th with 231 strokes.

The Blugolds will be back in action again next Sunday and Monday at the Ronnie Eastman Invitational, hosted by Viterbo University, in La Crosse.

Final Results

- KM -