Men's Golf At 2nd Swing Gopher Invitational Final RU 3rd

The Knights return for at least the 6th year in a row to the 7,457yd Windsong GC in Independence, Minn. Among the 14 teams joining RU in the 3 Round event will be host Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ark- Littlr Rock, Iowa State, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Grand Canyon, and Marquette.

Notes

Oklahoma (18) and Georgia (27) are the only teams ranked in last season's Top 50. 9 Teams, including Rutgers, were ranked between 51 and 100 out of 311 ranked teams.

Rutgers has finished 7, 13, 5 the last 3 times here.

Rutgers is 10-8-1 team v team so far ths season. The team has already faced 5 teams entered here, going 4-1.

Dating back to last season's B1G Championship, Rutgers Junior Bennett Espenshade will be looking for his 4th consecutive Top 10 finish.

Rutgers has posted the same lineup as last week...

Sr TJ Thompson
Jr Bennett Espenshade
Jr Argyle Downes
So Lucas Politano
Fr Carlo Melgrati

In this morning's 1st round the Knights shot a 4 Over 288, good for a Tie for 1st with Cincinnati and Georgia.

Rutgers was led by former D2 All-America TJ Thompson with an Even Par 71. He is T4 Individually. Bennett Espenshad and Argyle Downes shot 1 Over 72, Lucas Politano 73, and Carlo Megrati 74. Playing as an individual, Daniel Martines Regal shot 76.

Only 1 Hole, the 599 yd Par 5, 12th, played under Par.

Top 5 with '25-'26 Ranking

T1. #81 RUTGERS.................+5
T1. #27 Georgia
T1. #61 Cincinnati
T4. #53 Ark - Little Rock...+7
T4. #55 West Virginia

#73 Minnesota is 7th at 11 Over and #83 Nebraska T10 at +19.

The 2nd Round is well under way.

Rutgers Shot Even Par 284 in the 2nd round and stands 3rd behind Oklahoma who went low (-10) in the afternoon and Georgia who also shot under par.

Rutgers was led by Argyle Downes and Bennett Espenshade with 1 Under Par 70's. Downes is currently T9 and Espenshade T13. Lucas Politano and Carlo Melgrati shot 72s and JT Thompson a 78. Playing as an Individual, Daniel Martinez Regal also shot 72.

For the two rounds, the Knights are 3rd in Par 3 scoring. 5th in Par 4, and 4th in Par 5. The team is also 3rd in fewest Bogeys and 2nd in fewest Doubles+

Top 5 with '25-'26 Ranking

1. #18 Oklahoma................E
2. #27 Georgia..................+2
3. #81 RUTGERS...............+5
T4. #55 West Virginia.....+8
T4. #61 Cincinnati

Minnesota (+17) is 8th and Nebraska (+27) is 13th.

Georgia's James Earle and Oklahoma's Ryder Cowan are tied for 1st at 7 Under, 3 strokes ahead of their nearest challenger.

Pairings haven't been announced but RU will likely be paired with Oklahoma for the 3rd time along with Georgia and either WVU or Cincy.

The Knights fought off charges from Cincinnatti and held on to 3rd place in today's Final Round, shooting a 3 Over 287

Once again Bennett Espenshade led the team with a 2 Under 69. With a 3 Round total of 1 Under Par, he earned his 4th Top 10 in a row by finishing T9th. Argyle Downes (+1) shot 1 Over 72 and finished 12th. Frosh Carlo Melgrati also shot +1 with TJ Thompson a 74 and Lucas Politano an 80. Playing as an individual, Daniel Martinez Regal shot 76.

Rutgers was pretty much middle of the road in most stats. 2 stats where they stood out were 2nd in fewest Bogeys and 4th in fewest Double Bogey+

Oklahoma's Ryder Cowan ran away with the Individual Title with a 13 Under Par, 6 strokes ahead of Georgia's Mason Howell.

Top 5 with '25-'26 Ranking

1, #27 Georgia.......................-9
2. #18 Oklahoma...................-3
3. #81 RUTGERS...................+8
4. #61 Cincinnati................+10
5. #53 Ark - Little Rock.....+13

Minnesota (+32) finished T11 and Nebraska (+37) 13th.

There was a 2nd tourney for D1 individuals and D3 teams and players, the Minnesota Golf Classic. Playing as Individuals Derek Gutierrez shot Even Par (T22) and Jamie McGeoch shot +3 (T33)

They team next plays Oct 5-6 at the 12 team Hamptons Intercollegiate in East Hampton, NY

Rutgers is the only BIG10 team entered
ACC - Duke, Florida State, and Wake Forest
SEC - Florida and Ole Miss
BIG12 - Utah
Ivy - Princeton, Harvard, and Yale
BigEast - Georgetown
Patriot - Loyola of Maryland