STATE GOLF: In the program’s first season in over 3 decades, MCC boys’ golf proving they belong

SLAYTON — If a golfer yells, “Fore,” and no one is around to hear it, does he make a sound?

The boys of Murray County Central’s golf team were heard loud and clear when they wanted to start a boys’ team for the first time since the 1970s.

“There hasn’t been boys’ golf in over 30 years and I would assume it was just from funding and interest,” MCC golf coach Kim DeLong said. “It wasn’t hard at all to start a team.

“The golfers involved have been golfing since they were younger and their parents were golfing before them. Small towns support their schools and community. They got a booster up and running to provide some of the funding and the school board allowed us to have a team. It gives the kids another opportunity.”

In athletics there is no proof like victory. No words, no graph, no charts and no explanations match the argument of the win column. In a sport dedicated to silence, the MCC boys’ golf team has bellowed this season with a victory at the Red Rock Conference meet, an 11-stroke victory in the sub-section meet and a five-stroke victory at the section meet to punch a ticket to the Class A state meet today and Wednesday in Becker.

“We’ve been trying to get a team for awhile,” MCC junior Ben Loosbrock said. “We knew we had the potential and we just had to buckle down and golf like we know how to.

“It feels great because getting to state was our goal and we want to go up there and do as well as possible. We’re just happy we got the team and we got the opportunity.”

You can take the sport away from an athlete, but you can’t take the athlete away from the sport. Without golf, Loosbrock and teammate Adam Christensen played baseball and teammates Grant Everson and and Devin Ryan ran track. Even without the chance to wear their school colors and represent their high school, the Rebels always ended up at the golf course.

“We just played in our free time,” Loosbrock said. “It’s funny. We would usually be out on the course right after baseball practice, golfing.”

Everson led the way for MCC at the section meet in Marshall, shooting an 81, which was good enough for third overall. Loosbrock, Ryan and Christensen each scored 84s, which put them in a six-way tie for seventh and Devin Erickson was right behind them with an 85 with Cole DeGreeff adding a 107.

The victories for the Rebels keep coming as surprises to everyone, but the team.

“We knew we had a lot of good golfers,” Everson said. “We’re always golfing in the summer. We wanted a team because we knew we’d be pretty good.

“It feels really good that we proved that they made a good decision to start a boys’ golf team. We just need to play our best and play our rounds and whatever we finish with, we’ll be happy with.”

With Everson and Christensen being freshmen and Loosbrock and Erickson being juniors, the MCC boys’ golf program isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“When we started this team, we knew it wasn’t just going to be for a couple of years,” Loosbrock said. “We knew we were building a program.

“We don’t want this to be a short-lived program. We this to grab people’s attention and we want the younger kids and this program to keep going into the future.”

Christensen certainly appreciated the program waiting for him to start.

“It was perfect timing to start this because me and Everson are freshmen and we’re really good,” Christensen said.

Just representing MCC is a victory in itself.

“The school is proud,” DeLong said. “The school board has known for a few years that there’s an interest in golf and these golfers are very appreciative of being allowed to play. They aren’t taking it for granted and they want to represent MCC.”

Winning state, of course, wouldn’t hurt.

“The largest expectations we have are our own,” Loosbrokc said. “Everybody is really surprised we’re going, but we knew, if we golfed like we knew we can, we had the potential. We’re basically trying to reach our own expectations.”

The Rebels have surprised this far, so why not one more shocker to add memories to a memorable season?

“The boys need to play their game,” DeLong said. “They’ve gone out before and been able to shoot in those low 40s.

“They are all right in that same range. We want to win. It’s an honor to get to state, but we have hopes to win the meet.”

Fulda, SWC and W-WG duos heading to state

Fulda, Southwest Christian and Westbrook-Walnut Grove each have a two golfers headed to state individually in Class A.

Fulda will be represented by Todd Peterson and Tessa Kramer, who both took the final qualifying spots at the section meet, shooting an 83 and 90, respectively.

“It feels really good,” Peterson said. “I didn’t expect myself to make it into the tournament, but I played like I had nothing to lose.”

SWC’s Monte DeKam took home first place at the section tournament, shooting an 80, and Emaleigh Vreeman finished in a tie for second with an 85.

“It feels great to make state,” DeKam said. “I didn’t really expect it.

“There are going to be a lot of good golfers there and I’m hoping to just play as well as I can.

The Fulda and SWC pairs will be joined by the W-WG duo of Dana Madson and Abby Herding. Madson finished fourth at the section meet, shooting an 82 and Herding finished with a 89, which was good enough for sixth at the section meet.

Walzak becomes first male qualifier from MLC

Aaron Walzak became the first male athlete from Mountain Lake Christian to qualify for state, after shooting an 80 and tying for first place at the section meet.

On top of making school history, Walzak did it after suffering a broken collarbone less than five weeks before the sub-section meet in a pick-up game of basketball.

“I’ve played the state championship course before, so I am pretty confident heading into the tournament,” Walzak said.

Daily Globe Sports Editor Chris Murphy may be reached at 376-7328.

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