Saint John's golf opens its spring schedule this Friday-Saturday, April 4-5, at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational. – Live Results

TEE TIMES: This weekend's two-day tournament will be played at Ironwood G.C. (par 72) and Illinois State's Weibring G.C. (par 71). SJU begins the tourney with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun on Friday at Ironwood G.C., followed by a 9 a.m. shotgun on Saturday at Weibring G.C.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's ended the fall portion of its 2024-25 schedule in 17th place out of 24 teams at the elite Golfweek October Classic back in October at the Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort's Raven G.C. (par 71) in Destin, Fla. The 24-team field included 18 that were nationally ranked. Then-No. 6 Washington and Lee (Va.) won the tournament with a three-day score of 822 (-30), seven shots ahead of Sewanee (Tenn.) in second at 829 (-23). Then-No. 13 LeTourneau (Texas) was third (-6, 846) and then-No. 10 Lynchburg (Va.) and then-No. 1 Methodist (N.C.) tied for fourth (-5, 847). SJU posted a 292 (+8) on the final day to take 17th with a three-day total of 871 (+19).

Senior Andrew Boemer (Eagan, Minn.) double-bogeyed his final hole, the par-4 No. 9 (405 yards), to post a 1-over par 72 during the final round and tie for 10th out of 120 golfers with a three-round score of 208 (-5).

Junior Gus Briguet (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) led SJU on the final day of competition with a 1-under par 70 despite a bogey on the final hole. The 70 served as his third round at or better this season and fifth of his career. Briguet tied for 98th with a 225 (+12).

Junior Ethan Kress (Woodbury, Minn.) eagled his second hole of the morning – the par-5 No. 11 (532 yards) – and birdied his last for his second of the day for a 74 (+3). Junior Tim Fultz (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and freshman Gavin Grahek (Maple Grove, Minn.) followed with a 76 (+5) and 79 (+8), respectively. Fultz, Grahek and Kress all tied for 88th with a 224 (+11)

WHO WILL BE THERE: In addition to SJU and No. 4 IWU (three teams), this weekend's 32-school tournament (38 teams) is scheduled to include golfers from Augustana (Ill., two teams), No. 9 Aurora (Ill.), No. 22 Bethel, Calvin (Mich.), No. 24 Carleton, Carroll (Wis.), Carthage (Wis.), Central (Iowa), Concordia-Moorhead, DePauw (Ind.), Edgewood (Wis.), Gustavus Adolphus (two teams), Heartland C.C. (Ill.), Hope (Mich.), Illinois College, Knox (Ill.), Lake Forest (Ill.), Millikin (Ill., two teams), Nebraska Wesleyan, North Central (Ill.), North Park (Ill.), Rose-Hulman (Ind.), NAIA St. Francis (Ill.), St. Norbert (Wis.), Simpson (Iowa), Trine (Ind.), Wabash (Ind.), Wheaton (Ill.), No. 19 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (two teams) and Wisconsin-Stout.

THE LINEUP: Eight Johnnies are expected to compete this weekend in Illinois.

1. Boemer
2. Fultz
3. Kress
4. Grahek
5. Briguet

Individuals
-Sophomore Nate Appelhof (Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace)
-Freshman Mac Drake (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman)
-Freshman Connor O'Hara (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South)

LAST YEAR'S TOURNAMENT: Nate Loxtercamp '24 took first place out of 214 golfers as then-No. 10/12 Saint John's tied for fourth out of 37 teams at last year's Illinois Wesleyan Invitational on April 5-6 (2024). Loxtercamp carded five birdies for a 3-under par 68 – his team-leading seventh round at par or under this season – and earned medalist honors by one shot with a two-round total of 140 (-3). He led the tournament with a -6 on the seven par-5 holes over the two days. The win was the first of the season and third career for Loxtercamp, who leads SJU with a 72.7 average in 18 rounds this season.

The individual win was the Johnnies' second-consecutive at the IWU Invitational as Thomas Gutzmer '23 claimed first thanks to six birdies at Weibring G.C. to win the field by four shots with a 139 (-4) in April 2023.

IWU won the tournament by 24 shots with a two-round total of 568 (-4). Then-No. 8/12 Bethel was second (+20, 592), followed by the Titans' second team (+24, 596) and the four-way tie between SJU, then-No. 10/11 Aurora (Ill.), Hope (Mich.) and then-No. 21/22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 598 (+26). The Johnnies totaled 12 birdies on the day but three bogeyed their final hole.

Sam Berger '24 posted a 76 (+5) to tie for 44th with a 152 (+9) and Boemer tied for 58th (+10, 153) with a 75 (+4). Blake Schuler '24 recorded SJU's second-best score Saturday with a 74 (+3) and tied for 111th (+15, 158). Mark Longhenry '24 rounded out the Johnnies' five in a tie for 121st with a 159 (+16).

A pair of Johnnies, Kress and sophomore Nate Appelhof (Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace), played as individuals in the tournament. Appelhof posted a final-round score of 78 (+7) to tie for 72nd (+11, 154) and Kress tied for 135th (+18, 161).