Senior Jon DuToit finished 16th overall in the Hawkeye Invitational, but he was far ahead of his teammates.
The Gophers shot an 893 in Ames, Iowa, over the weekend and finished 12th out of 14 teams at the tournament.
Minnesota shot a 307 in the first round, a 290 in the second round and a 296 in the final round.
“It was a disappointing weekend for us,” head coach John Carlson said. “Our first round was uncharacteristic and a bit surprising. We had just played well; qualifiers went well.
The second round, I was really happy. [We were a] very resilient group that second round, and I thought we hung in there and played well. [We were] just too far behind too soon.”
DuToit shot a 217, marking the best individual score of any Minnesota golfer. The Gophers next-best golfers in the tournament, sophomores Riley Johnson and Runar Arnorsson and junior Justin Doeden, each shot a 226.
DuToit shot 71 in both the first and second rounds, but he earned a 75 in the third round.
“He had climbed into contention there with 15 holes left,” Carlson said. “[On Sunday], he wasn’t as good. He wasn’t quite as sharp with his iron game. … He battled out there, and three over par wasn’t bad when he just didn’t have it.”
Johnson, Arnorsson and Doeden tied for 49th place in the tournament. Freshman Tom Vining shot a 237 to finish in 74th.
“We weren’t executing really this week at all,” Carlson said.
