< terrific improvement during the fall season under new coach Jerry Ericksen’s watch, the Carleton men’s golf team looks to continue to rise in the MIAC.
Alec Roman ’10 who became the first Carleton men’s golfer since 2003 to receive all-MIAC honors and only the fourth Knight ever, should continue to be the low scorer on the Carleton roster.
He has cut four and a half strokes off his average from his freshman to sophomore season, dropping down to 76.4 strokes per round. He won the Carleton-St. Olaf Invitational in September and placed 10th at the conference tournament.
The Knights’ spring slate consists of four meets. The toughest course the Knights will compete on this spring is the Classic at Madden’s in Brainerd, Minn. That facility also hosts the team’s favorite tournament, the Augsburg Invitational.
Carleton plays a split fall-spring schedule, and the wet weather has helped make the season extremely compact. One stretch of the Knights’ schedule has the team playing 108 holes in three different tournaments in the span of a week.
This spring will also mark the last competitive season for the Knights’ three seniors: captain Jesse Saucedo, Paul Rotilie , and Dan Kuhlmann .
Saucedo has brought his game back to form after an occasionally tough junior year. His fall average was 81.6, which is closer to his freshman and sophomore scores of 80.3 and 80.2 than his junior campaign of 83.9. Rotilie has improved his swing and looks to move his game to the point where his scores are consistently counting for Carleton.
The Knights’ second-biggest improvement from last season to this year came from another sophomore, Trent Wells ’10. He improved from an 87.4 average to an 84.3 average. Other than the Saint John’s Fall Invitational, where Trent struggled mightily with a disqualification in the first round and a 92 in the second round, his play has been much better than his rookie year.
The two final slots on the Knights squad are up for grabs in part because Hal Baseman, who played in three of the four fall competitions, is off campus this spring.
The battle for those spots is between Rotilie, Michael Hantho ’11, Fred Kieley ’09, and Jordan Narvey ’10.
Rotilie and Hantho may have the advantage after playing on the Knights’ conference team in the fall. Fred Kieley is something of an unknown quantity for the Carleton, as he did not compete in the fall team but rejoined the squad for the spring.
Carleton’s first April competition is next Monday and Tuesday at the Gustavus Invitational.