Junior Justin Doeden is set to compete in his third tournament with the Gophers this week, after impressing with a top 10 finish in his last tournament.

 

Now, the team hopes he only keeps growing from here.

 

“From a driving-the-golf-ball perspective, he’s as good as I’ve seen in terms of distance and accuracy,” assistant golf coach Justin Smith said. “He’s an extremely confident kid.” 

 

Doeden didn’t make the Gophers’ first team in the qualifying rounds of his first tournament, the Gopher Invite, but he still played like he did. 

 

Doeden ended up moving up to the first team after a score of 225 in the tournament, which was better than two scores on the first team. 

 

Freshman Tom Vining was the only second-team player with a better score at the invitational. 

 

“I knew that things would be changing and that Justin and Tom are impact players,” head coach John Carlson said. “They also earned their stripes that week by showing players how quality they are.”

 

At his debut on the first team at the Husky Invitational, Doeden shot 218 individually, the best score of any Minnesota player, and the Gophers finished ninth as a team.

 

Doeden is in his third season of college golf, but this is his first year with the Gophers. The junior transferred from Cardinal Stritch University, which is in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. 

 

Doeden shot an average of 73.23 during his career for the Wolves.

 

Doeden is a Prior Lake native and went to high school at Lakeville South. He had Division I offers to play hockey but decided to focus on golf instead. After his sophomore year, Doeden said he reached out to various programs and was looking to transfer to a Division I school.

 

“I’ve always dreamed about being a Gopher. It’s one of the biggest achievements I have made in my golf career,” Doeden said. “I think it’s really cool to be playing for my home state and all the accolades that come with it. It’s been awesome.” 

 

Division I golf runs in the family for Doeden. Doeden’s cousin Andy Doeden was a two-year co-captain for Texas Christian University in his college career, where he averaged a score of 73.65. 

 

“It’s cool to follow in his footsteps,” Justin Doeden said.

 

Justin Doeden was exempt from qualifying for the upcoming Macdonald Cup along with Grady Meyer and Vining. After working his way onto the team, Justin Doeden seems

set to stay there.

 

“He’s here for two years to really make a huge impact,” Carlson said.