ALTOONA, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire men's golf team kicked of its spring season today with a first place finish out of six teams at its Blugold Spring Invitational at Hillcrest Golf and Country Club.

Eau Claire totaled 306 strokes in the win while the University of St. Thomas took second with 307. UW-Stout and Viterbo University tied for third with 311 while UW-Eau Claire's second team was fifth with 313 strokes and UW-Stout's second team was sixth with 317.

St. Thomas' Grant Shafranski won medalist honors, finishing with an even score of 72. The Blugolds' leader, Ryan Grip (So.-Wausau, Wis./East), tied for second place with Viterbo's Michael Hesselman with 73 strokes.

K.R. Rucker (Fr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) finished fourth for Eau Claire with 74 while Jake Brookshaw (Fr.-River Falls, Wis.) tied for 14th overall with 79 strokes. Loren Churness (So.-Durand, Wis.) finished with 80 strokes to tie for 18th.

Leading the Blugolds' second team today was Jimmy Hutchings (Fr.-Hudson, Wis.). He finished the day with 75 strokes to tie for fifth place overall.

The Blugolds will be back in action tomorrow when they travel to Menomonie for the UW-Stout Spring Invitational.

Results

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