SUB-SECTION 3A GOLF: Rebel boys, Raider girls crowned champs

WORTHINGTON — It’s been more than 30 years since Murray County Central has had a boys’ golf team.

“We got a team finally started this year,” MCC assistant coach Ryan Tjeerdsma said.

After Wednesday, the Rebels have a sub-section champion boys’ golf team.

Tjeerdsma and the Rebels did not let inexperience stop them from claiming the Sub-Section 3A golf tournament

“Part of getting this far is having kids that love to play,” Tjeerdsma said. “They are out there all summer long.

“We get them at practice and get them working on short games and swing problems, and they have gotten better as the year has gone on.”

The Rebels shot a 331 to claim first, while the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers ended up shooting a 342 to take second and move on in section play.

“We talked about keeping the ball in play,” Tjeerdsma said. “With the wind blowing the way it was, you had to figure out a way to get the ball in the fairway and keep it out of the trees.”

The top five individuals came from four different teams, including three area teams.

Dana Madson from W-WG had the low score for the day, shooting a 74. Caleb Schroer from Hills-Beaver Creek ended up hitting a 78, which gave him second. Next was Ben Loosbrock from Murray County Central, who hit a 79, which was good for third.

Adam Christensen, from Murray County Central, ended up with an 83 on the day to take home fifth place.

“It was bogey golf and I was struggling on the first nine, but I struggled through it,” Madson said. “The next nine we came up and drives started falling straight and my chipping was spot on.

“These greens are beautiful and the course is in great condition, so it was a great day today.”

For the boys, there were also nine individual qualifiers that will be moving on to play another day of sections with Madson, Loosbrock and Christensen qualifying with their teams. Schroer qualified individually for H-BC as well.

Mitch Baumhoefner, from Fulda, shot an 85 to take the third qualifying spot behind Mountain Lake Christian’s Aaron Walzak (79). Adrian's Ben Henning shot an 86 to take the fourth spot. Monte Dekam of Southwest Christian hit an 87 to serve as the fifith qualifier.

Fulda’s Todd Peterson shot an 89 and Round Lake-Brewster’s Kyle Wendland hit a 92 to take the sixth and seventh spots, respectively.

Showing impressive individuals, the fourth Fulda individual qualifier, Mic Holinka, shot a 92 to earn the eighth spot. And finally, Jordan Smith of Red Rock Central hit a 93 to take the final spot.

MCC’s team knows that there is room for improvement moving forward.

“We need to improve,” Tjeerdsma said. “(Our score) is a good score, but we need to shoot better. We don’t know who we’ll run into at sections, but we feel like we need to keep getting better by working on our short game.”

Raiders take girls’ division

On the other side of the ball, the MCC girls came in second with a 427 to the Fulda Raiders, who shot a 396, and both teams will continue on in section 3A tournament play.

“Our No. 1 golfer struggled a little bit on the back nine, but we’ve really been a team all year long,” Fulda coach Loren Carlson said. “Our other gals really came through with some decent scores today, nothing outstanding, but any time you can shoot under 400 we’re happy on the country club.”

The low score on the day was shot by Emaleigh Vreeman, of Southwest Christian, who ended up with an 80.

“Everything besides my putting was not the best for me today,” Vreemen said. “My putting was the main thing that worked for me out on the course.”

Abby Herding, of W-WG, came in second with 96. Then there was a tie for third between Avoree Bakken, of W-WG, and Madeline Westra, of Fulda, who both shot a 97.

Then, finally, there was a three-way tie for fifth between Sarah Strenge and Brittany Leinen, of Fulda, and Alison Kircher, of Red Rock Central, who all shot a 99.

Five other girls qualified individually.

Vreeman took the first qualifying spot with an 80, Herding took the second spot by shooting a 96, Bakken snagged the third spot with a 97, Kircher grabbed the fourth spot by shooting a 99, and Marissa Veld, of Adrian, ended up taking the fifth and final spot, shooting a 100.

“We’ve been up to Marshall for the sections for the last couple of years and we’ve got a tough competition in Lincoln High,” Carlson said. “They’re the returning entry from this section and they have everybody back, and they are shooting really well. We’re looking forward to playing them.”

Qualifiers will compete Wednesday in Marshall.

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