Jackson Gerber, Staff Writer

Both the Augsburg men’s and women’s golf teams competed in the MIAC Championships over the last couple of weeks with both teams improving from last year’s competition.

First it was the women who competed Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker. Not only did Auggies improve their team positioning from last year, finishing tenth, but they showed a tremendous improvement in their overall team score, slicing off 63 strokes from last year’s performance. The final total of 1,129 was also the team’s lowest score since the 2015 MIAC Championship. Leading the Auggies on the weekend were Emma Kraft and Karina Kafka who both recorded top-40 individual performances. Kraft finished at a tie for 33rd place which was the best 54-hole performance at the MIAC Tournament since the 2015 for any Auggie. Kafka improved by 50 strokes from last year’s tournament to finish tied for 37th.

    The men competed this last weekend down in Jordan at the Ridges at Sand Creek. Due to inclement weather, they had to play both the second and third rounds on Sunday which led to a long day of golf for the Auggies. It was well worth it as Augsburg finished tied for second place at the MIAC Championship. Their 54-hole team score of 886 (298-293-295) broke the school record and was also the first time the team had finished each round under 300 strokes. Brett Buckingham and Dakota Krech both recorded All-MIAC Honors and both made the MIAC All-Championship team with their top 10 finishes. Buckingham finished fourth overall at one over par while Krech recorded his career best finish at a MIAC meet, finishing tied for sixth.

    The Auggies will take a trip down to Georgia in late October to compete in the Berry College Chick-Fil-A Invitational to conclude their fall season.

This article first appeared in the Friday, October 12 edition of The Echo.