The Gophers men’s golf team started their season with a second-place finish at the Gopher Invitational on Monday. 

Minnesota sat in second place after the tournament’s first two rounds as they scored four over par in the first round and an even par in the second round. In the final round, the Gophers scored six over par, allowing Iowa State to surpass them and win the tournament.

Three of the five members on the Gophers’ starting roster were upperclassmen and two freshmen, Chun-Ta Wu and Jack Crousore, made their Gophers debut while freshman Ryan Stendahl made his collegiate golf debut competing as an individual.

All three upperclassmen in the lineup placed in the top 25, while Wu and Crousore placed 27th and 36th, respectively. Senior Eduardo Galdos led the Gophers as he tied for seventh place, his best finish as a Gopher.

Galdos said he had high expectations coming into the tournament as he was close to finishing in the top ten in the last two Gopher Invitationals. He said one aspect of his game he wants to improve is the confidence behind his shots.

Junior Cormac Sharpe, who tied for ninth at the tournament, said he was happy with his own play and that the Gophers can take a lot of confidence from their performance.

“All of us are really good players,” Sharpe said. “We can definitely compete. I mean, you saw the Gopher (Invitational), all of our guys were kind of at the top of the leaderboard.”

Head coach Justin Smith commended the freshmen for their performance in their first college tournament. He said the freshmen promote competitiveness among the team as they fight for roster spots.

Smith said he leans on Sharpe and senior Bennett Swavely’s veteran experience during road tournaments but also sees different forms of leadership everywhere on the roster.

“We don’t just have one leader,” Smith said. “We have seven, eight or nine leaders in different areas.”

Sharpe attested to the balance of leadership on the team and said his version of leadership is to lead on the course by setting an example with his play. He said the team’s captain, Swavely, leads off the course.

Swavely said the Gophers started preparing for the season earlier than in years past with team events beginning over the summer rather than at the start of the school year. 

“We took a trip up to Brainerd as a team. Played a lot of golf,” Swavely said. “Just being around each other a lot more early on.”

Swavely said he had moments his freshman year where he struggled to find his home on the team, so he took it upon himself to change that.

“There was obviously some rough days at the start of my freshman year,” Swavely said. “I just want to make sure that those guys don’t, or at least try to mitigate that as much as we can.”

The Gophers continue their season at the Git R Done Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska on Sept. 23.