WAHIAWA and WAIKOLA, Haw. – The Saint Martin's men's golf team had one of their strongest showings of the season last week as competed well at the Dennis Rose Invitational and had a fifth-place finish at the Southwest Air HPU Shark Shootout. Maxwell Turnquist was stellar in both competitions, finishing in the top ten in each, and being named the GNAC Men's Golfer of the Week.
 
Everything got started well, as the guys powered in a solid day one at Leilehua Golf Course in Wahiawa for the HPU Shootout. All five Saints shot sub-75, while Turnquist led the way with a 71. Turnquist and teammate Mason Bratcher were able to scrape into the 60s the next day, which is what allowed top-20 finishes from both. Turnquist was in sixth place, while Bratcher finished 16^th. Thanks to improved scores from Kyle Erwin and Mason Rohleder the Saints ended up with a fifth-place finish in a field of 16 total teams.
 
As the sights shifted to the Dennis Rose Invitational, Turnquist continued to attack holes and shoot low numbers. Turnquist shot a team-low 72 in the first round and converted that to an even lower 69 in the second. Erwin was right beside him on day two as well, shooting a 69. Ethan Finau improved two strokes between days enroute to firing a 148.
 
"This golf course played completely different than Leilehua on Oahu." Head Coach Zach Dietz said of the Dennis Rose Invitational, "Both courses had a lot of character but at Waikoloa, the Bermuda was thicker, par fives were much longer, and the winds were challenging to judge. The guys adjusted well and played another good tournament. We had Kyle and Max both shoot 69 on the final round which really helps the team score when you can get two guys in the 60's."
 
Turnquists multiple top-10 finishes were enough to earn him the conference Player of the Week award. He was the top finisher of every GNAC men's golfer in the HPU Shootout, and Western Washington's Jordan Lee finished just one stroke ahead of him in the Dennis Rose Invitational. He is the first SMU golfer to take home POW honors this fall.
 
"All in all, a successful couple of tournaments," summed up Dietz, "11 of the 16 teams were ranked in the top 50 in the nation and we finished ahead of many of those teams including Sonoma (4) and Western (6) at HPUs event. Individually, Max played extremely solid for us the entire trip finishing top 10 in both events. He was a birdie machine at HPUs event and then continued his good play at the Dennis Rose."
 
The team will get the winter months off to prepare for the spring season which will conclude with the GNAC Championships in Couer D'Alene, Idaho on April 24^th and 25^th.