ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Concordia-St. Paul men's golf team will open its 2025-26 season on Sept. 8-9 at the BSU Invite, hosted by Bemidji State. The two-day, two-round tournament gets underway Monday morning at the Bemidji Town & Country Club, a par-71, 6,515-yard course.
After finishing last season atop the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Golden Bears look to continue living up to that standard.
"Oustanding season last year, five wins, a trip to regionals, those are our standards," Head Coach Peter Maki said. "And that's the goal."
Concordia graduated three golfers from last season's team including NSIC Player of the Year, Thomas Gutzmer. Last season, Gutzmer tallied eight top-30 finishes and five top-10 finishes, while also recording a 72.12 scoring average, second best in program history, across 11 events.
"Different team this year, we lost a couple of big contributors and are happy for all of their success," Maki said. "But four talented freshmen are going to earn some opportunity alongside some of the upperclassmen that are still here."
Meet the Team: Returners
Leading the way amongst the returners is junior Josh Esterly, who was picked as the Golden Bears Preseason Player to Watch. Esterly earned NSIC Newcomer of the Year honors last season after transferring from St. Thomas. Finishing the season with a 72.92 scoring average and a seventh-place finish at the NSIC Championship.
Senior Trey Timm is another key returner expected to make an impact after posting a 75.59 scoring average, with three top-20 finishes last season. Chase Camili is also expected to get some opportunities and make an impact this season, after finishing last season with an average score of 78.0.
"Chase has worked really hard all summer on his game," Maki said. "And I can see him earning some opportunities."
CSP also returns senior Bailey Johnston along with sophomores Camden O'Malley and Sam Rudolph.
Meet the team: Newcomers
With the departure of three seniors from last season's NSIC Championship team, a new crop of four talented freshmen will look to earn opportunities and contribute.
"This is our strongest freshman class we've ever had," Maki said. "Each and every one of them will have a chance to compete and contribute."
Carson Boe, Sean Leutner, Sam Lunde and Cade Thompson make up this year's crop of newcomers for the Golden Bears.
Schedule preview
The Golden Bears will open their season at the BSU Invite in Bemidji on Sept. 8-9, before returning home to host the CSP Fall Brawl. The tournament takes place Sept. 15-16 at the Troy Burne Golf Course in Hudson, Wisconsin.
"We'll play that course a bunch, we'll be very familiar with the setup," Maki said. " … It's just a treat to host an event at a really nice place like that."
In early October the team will also make the trip down to Edmond, Oklahoma for the Skip Wagnon Invitational hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma. The tournament takes place on Oct. 6-7 at the Kickingbird Golf Club.
"We'll see some tough regional competition, probably some top 10 nationally ranked squads," Maki said. "So that'll be one we'll be geared up for and ready to go."
Conference Outlook
The Golden Bears enter the 2025-26 season as defending conference champions and were picked second in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, with a total of 69 points and four first-place votes.
Taking the top spot in the poll is Winona State, who finished just two points ahead of Concordia with 71 points and tied with four first-place votes. Minnesota State was picked third in the poll and received 61 points and one first-place vote. Winona State senior Peyton Coahran was voted as NSIC Men's Preseason Golfer of the Year.
"The way we go about stuff, the championship is the goal," Maki said. "And then we really focus on the process of what we do on and off the golf course that gets us ready."
