By Becky Walz,
It was a picture perfect weekend for the Luther College men’s golf team, April 23-24. The Norse overcame a blustery Sunday and Monday and overpowered the competition at the Luther Spring Classic. As a team, Luther won the competition by 31 strokes, earning first place with a two-round score of 583, as four of the team’s top-5 golfers finished in the top-five. Junior and DHS alum Jay Fjelstul won the tournament as an individual at -4, shooting even and under par over the course of two days.
The Norse led the competition from start to finish despite adverse conditions Sunday morning and afternoon. With temps barely above freezing, Luther shot an opening round 299 on its home course, finishing the day in first place by seven strokes. Fjelstul led the way for the Norse on the course. Despite struggles on the front nine, the junior closed the day with a 72 to finish even par. Teammate Mark Devlin (Cookstown, Northern Ireland), who was competing as an individual, also shot 72, making four birdies on the back nine to finish in a tie for second with Fjelstul.
Haakon Rustad (Northfield, Minn.) was the only other Luther golfer to finish in the top-five, though Brandon Doans (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) finished eighth on day one to put three Norse golfers in the top-10. Rustad shot an opening round 73 to close the day in fourth place, while Doans closed in eighth with an opening round score of 76.
Hogan Reuter (Farmington, Minn.) and Peter Stiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) rounded out the Norse top-five at the Luther Spring Classic.
Every single Norse golfer dropped strokes from Sunday to Monday, including Fjelstul. After shooting an opening round 72, the junior was four-under-par on Monday, allowing him to win the tournament with a two-day, under par score of 140. It marks the first tournament Fjelstul has won during the spring season after a handful of top-five finishes at previous events. The 68 is also the lowest round he has shot this spring.
Fjelstul medals
In addition to Devlin, the Norse individual golfers also had fantastic tournaments at the Oneota Country Club.
Fjelstul earned medalist honors for the first time this spring, winning the Luther Spring Classic with an under par score of 140. After closing in eighth place on day one, O’Brien ended in a tie for seventh after shooting back-to-back 76s for a two-round score of 152. Fritz dropped four strokes from day one to day two, procuring a two-round score of 162. Devlin finished second with a two-round score of 142 while Rustad and Dorans rounded out the top-five.
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