The Macalester golf teams had their first competitive meet since last October’s MIAC Championship tournament this past weekend. The meet took place in Waverly, Iowa. The Scots took advantage of the extended weekend to travel down to the Wartburg College Invitational April 9-10. Combating windy and cold weather conditions and a large field of entrants including several other MIAC teams, the Scots were tested early in the spring season.

The Scots men’s team, led by Eric Kelsey ’07 and Kramer Lawson ’05, placed an impressive 12th out of 22 teams, shooting a combined 303 on Friday and 312 on Saturday. Both Kelsey and Lawson shot combined rounds of 150, tying for 21st place out of a field of 109 competitors. Kelsey shot 73 on the first day and 77 on the second, while Lawson shot 72 on the first day and 78 on the second.

“The whole team was excited about the performance. We’ve got a pretty young team so it was good to get some experience,” Lawson said. “This was the best performance we’ve had at a meet like this in a number of years.”

Kelsey agreed. “This was by far our best tournament in a long time. We beat a lot of teams that we lost to in the conference tournament,” Kelsey said. “The conditions were bad but we excelled. It was a huge boost for the team’s confidence.”

On the women’s side, a young Scots team consisting primarily of first-years gained valuable experience this past weekend. Led by Kylie Thomson ’07 who shot 91 on Friday and 100 on Saturday, the women’s team placed 12th out of 12 teams. The women had totals of 420 and 433.

“The team’s work so far, especially Spring Break training, really paid off and some of us shot our best scores of the season,” Thomson said. “We’re looking forward to even better performances in our upcoming tournaments.”

The next opportunity for the Scots to improve comes April 19-20 at the Gustavus Spring Classic for the men, and April 16-17 at the Carleton Invitational for the women.