It was a battle at South Hills golf course between St. Mary's Springs and Sheboygan Lutheran once again on Wednesday afternoon; and, for the second time this season, the Crusaders found a way to win.
The Ledgers closed the gap late but were unable to ever take the lead from SLHS. In the first Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin rankings, the Crusaders were No. 2 and the Ledgers were No. 4.
Springs junior Tyler Hoffmann led the team with a 10-over par 81, which was 10th place. He finished with a birdie after his only poor hole of the day on No. 17, where he scored an eight.
His approach shot on hole 18 nearly went in, leaving him with about a 3-foot putt, which he made.
"I came off 17 and I was just kind of thinking that I couldn’t let myself get mad about it," Hoffmann said. "I hit a good hybrid down the middle and hit a good chip shot that almost went in; that would have been nice for eagle, but I’ll take a birdie on that."
Hoffmann, who was expected to be the leader for the Ledgers this season, has filled that role. He has not finished outside the top 10 this spring.
He said it is important for his teammates to realize that they still have momentum heading into the next event.
"[Momentum] is really important," Hoffmann said. "We just have to keep moving even if we’re not happy about it. For me, top-10, even though it wasn’t my best day, I’ll take it. We have to take it into our next meet."
Mayville's Ray Baldus finished as the low Flyway player in the event that was won by Berlin senior Alex Johnson. Baldus shot a 6-over 77.
"It was a good day," Baldus said. "It threw me off a little bit starting on hole eight. The course was just amazing, it was beautiful. The fairways were rolling out, the greens were rolling amazing."
Baldus had two birdies, both coming on the back nine. He responded to a triple bogey on hole 16 with a birdie on the next hole.
He said he had to calm himself down after initially telling himself he couldn't recover from a triple.
"You just got to keep your head in it," Baldus said. "I kind of like to let out my frustration on the next hole. I hit a good drive, good second shot and made a birdie so that felt good. I was able to keep it going from there.”
Between temperatures in the mid-30s for the 10 a.m. start and the wind that gusted about 20 mph, conditions were difficult.
"It was a little chilly this morning and it was a battle with the wind, but you just have to appreciate the course and have fun playing instead of being in school,” Baldus said.
Team leaderboard:
Sheboygan Lutheran | 322 |
St. Mary's Springs | 328 |
Lake Country Lutheran | 336 |
Berlin | 349 |
Ripon | 351 |
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah | 353 |
Campbellsport | 359 |
Mayville | 360 |
Lomira | 365 |
Other notable Flyway finishers:
T6: Preston Jung, Lomira 79
T11: Khalil Rebek, Springs 82
T11: Isaac Sabel, Springs 82
T14: Trenton Klawitter, WLA 83
T14: Ben Baker, Springs 83
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