Minot State golf teams tee off long season in Wisconsin on Monday
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They tee off on a season that starts with a month of action this fall, then resumes with more competitions in March and April, culminating at the NSIC Championships.
The Minot State golf teams hit the course this Monday and Tuesday, opening up a long season of competition at the Minnesota State/Concordia-St. Paul Fall Brawl, the first of five events in the fall campaign for the Beavers.
And suffice to say, the Beavers are eager to test their skills at "The Brawl."
"We're all super excited. This is a fun one for us; we love the course, we love the competition," second-year Minot State head golf coach Gary Brekhus said.
"The guys are fired up, and the girls are looking forward to it; I've got three of my five (ladies) who haven't seen the course before, so they're really looking forward to it.
"I'm excited to see what they do."
The Minot State teams that open play next week at the Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson, Wisconsin, will be a balanced mix of returning talent and impact newcomers, starting with the five-player ladies team.
Back are sophomores Carlie Brown and Macie Sebelius, who had strong freshman seasons, along with senior Micaela Resler, a two-sport Beaver who also played softball for Minot State the past two springs.
"They're all three key returners," Brekhus said.
They'll be helped out by senior transfer Natalie Van Dort, from Cyberjaya, Malaysia, who had a career average of 84.6 strokes per round during three seasons at Arkansas at Monticello, and freshman Emily Watts from Toronto, Ontario. Watts recently claimed the junior championship at the 2025 JPT Ottawa Championship.
That five-player roster will look to have a big finish to the season in April at the NSIC Championships held April 16-18 at the Adams Pointe Golf Club in Blue Springs, Missouri.
Before then, Minot State will look to finish strong in each individual event, starting with the opener in Wisconsin.
"I just want them to go have fun and just try their hardest," Brekhus said of both teams this coming week. "That's my biggest expectation is to not have expectations coming into it."
While the women look to start strong this weekend, so do the men, who are led by top returners in sophomore Kasen Rostad and senior Gunther Soltvedt.
As a true freshman out of Minot North High School, Rostad led the way for Minot State with a 75.7 stroke-per-round average. Rostad also led the team at the NSIC Championship, tying for 17th with 10-over 226 (77-73-76).
Soltvedt, a national tournament qualifier in junior college at Northeast Community College (Neb.), was third in scoring average in his first season at Minot State, averaging 76.7 strokes per round. He also finished third for the team at the NSIC Championship, tying for 36th at 20-over 236 (81-77-78).
"They're huge assets to the team," Brekhus said.
They're joined by two new impact players in NJCAA All-American Max Palmer and 2025 NJCAA National Tournament Qualifier Gabriel Sendlak.
Palmer is a junior transfer from Chandler-Gilbert CC (Ariz.) who won the NJCAA Division II Region I championship this past spring and is plenty familiar with North Dakota, as he won the 2024 Class B state title as a senior at Bottineau High School.
"He's awesome to watch; he's going to be a huge asset on the team," Minot State's coach said.
Sendlak, a Tucson, Arizona, product, transfers in as a sophomore after beginning his collegiate career at Bryant & Stratton (Wis.) where he had an 81.29 scoring average for the 2024-25 season.
"Hopefully we'll see him a little bit later this year," Coach Brekhus said. "He's going to be a huge asset coming out of Tucson, Arizona."
They'll help the men, as both teams have lofty goals for NSIC competition under Coach Brekhus.
"We want to win," he said. "I'd like to finish in the top, but, you know, again, if we can finish top three, I'd be very happy."
The Minot State men play at the NSIC Championship at the Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville, Missouri, April 20-23.
With a strong mix of strong returners and talented newcomers, there's no reason the Beavers can't achieve lofty goals, which the program has already done under Brekhus' guidance.
A goal was to bring a collegiate tournament to Minot, which the Beavers have done as Minot State will host 6 men's teams and 8 women's teams at Beowulf Golf Club for the inaugural "Battle in the North," Monday and Tuesday, October 5-6.
"We're really looking forward to the first home tournament of the NCAA era for Minot State golf," Brekhus said. "We're really looking forward to showcasing some of our North Dakota golf courses. Beowulf has been rated No. 1 in the state by Golf Digest.
"I've talked to some of the other coaches; we're really excited to see what they can do out there and see how they can handle the link-style course."