Devin Schelske, sports editor

After a less than stellar showing in 2022, the Augsburg Golf teams have come back to the 2023 season with some significant improvements. 

Last year, the womens team was consistently at or near last place in each competition. This year, they’ve been placing more towards the middle of the pack. The headline was their fourth place finish at the Buena Vista Invitational where the team shot 684 and had two golfers place top 10 individually. One of those players, senior Avery Sawchuk, is one to watch after she placed second by shooting 159 through 36 holes giving her a career best individual finish. Sawchuk also shot a career best 157 through 36 holes at the St. Catherine invitational. This was also the second best 36-hole score in Augsburg womens golf history and her score of 77 in the first round of the St. Catherine Invite is a team best on the season. A newcomer to watch is the team’s only newcomer, first year Emma Larsen. In her collegiate debut, she shot a career best of 175 through 36 holes at the St. Benedict Invite.

As for the men’s team, they started off last year’s season with a second to last place finish at the Augsburg invitational, a poor showing for the hosting team. The team shot 655 through 36 holes. This year the Auggies started the season with a bang, winning the Augsburg invitational and improving by 69 strokes from the previous season with a shot tally of 586. The team was led by seniors Stellan Orvick and Vincent Weis who both shot 143 (one-under-par) and tied for fourth place individually. Orvick, the team’s only returning all-conference golfer, is definitely one to watch. At the Bethel University/University of Minnesota Golf Classic, Orvick shot 218 through 54 holes (two over par). His performance led him to place 27th out of the 114 golfers in attendance, with 34 of the golfers at the meet coming from division one programs. Orvick finished fourth best in the non-division one competition. His score of 218 was eighth best in school history through 54-holes, seven strokes off from beating the school record of 212 set in 2017 by Brett Buckingham. A newcomer to watch is junior Luke Mountain, a transfer student from the University of Vermont. Mountain made his debut at the Augsburg invitational and shot 156 through 36 holes which tied for 30th out of 68 golfers. At the Bethel University/University of Minnesota Golf Classic, Mountain shot 241 through 54 holes.

The womens team is back in action on Oct. 7 at the MIAC Championships which takes place at the Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The mens team is back in action on Sept. 30 for the MIAC Championships held at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove.