Minnesota golfers had to take a boat to one of the greens at Coeur d’Alene Collegiate Invite, as that part of the Idaho course is completely surrounded by water. 

The team struggled with the unique and unfamiliar course on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Gophers finished tied for 15th with a team score of 39 over. Colorado won the tournament with a score of 18 under. 

Muyu Wu lead the Gophers individually by finishing tied 36th with a score of seven over. With an injury and a player not traveling with the team, three freshmen got the start. Freshman Kate Lillie finished second among Gophers with a score of eleven over, and freshman Grace Kellar finished third with a score of 13 over. 

“It is not part of our plan to have three freshmen start, but they played a lot better today and I am encouraged from what I have seen from our freshmen,” said head coach Michele Redman. “They learned a lot.” 

Wu finished as the leader of the Gophers for the second consecutive tournament and senior Sabrine Garrison finished 14 over, just one back of Kellar. 

The Gophers will be back home in action on Sunday as they will have a three-day tournament at Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prairie. The ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M features 18 holes of golf each day with 12 teams in the field including some of the best teams in the country.

“I think that yesterday we grew a lot as a team and I am excited to see how they are going to play moving forward,” Redman said.