By Becky Walz,
Finally with some half-decent weather, high school linksters were able to play the annual Winneshiek County Golf Classic between the area schools Tuesday night at Jackson Heights Golf Course
Finally with some half-decent weather, high school linksters were able to play the annual Winneshiek County Golf Classic between the area schools Tuesday night at Jackson Heights Golf Course
“It is always fun to get Decorah and South Winneshiek together on the same night. We are lucky to have such quality programs so close by. The Decorah and South Winneshiek coaches are such great people and great ambassadors for the sport of golf,” said Turkey Valley coach John Reicks. “A big thank you to Nick and the staff at Jackson Heights for having the course in great condition despite the weather as of late.”
Decorah boys victorious
The Decorah boys ran away with the team honors as the Vikings posted three of the four lowest rounds of the night with a total of 166. South Winn was second with a 182, while Turkey Valley finished the night with a 214.
Viking Ben Bockman was the overall medalist with a 39. Co-runner-ups were South Winn’s Jordan Baumler and Decorah’s Ethan Holthaus and Jack Knoke. All three carded a 42.
Combining with B. Bockman, Holthaus and Knoke for Decorah’s victorious scorecard was Joe Bockman with a 43. Also touring the course for the Vikings were Brody Hanson (46), Jon Egan (46), Kade Alstad (46) and Lane Rolfs (48).
Freshman Jackson Goltz shot a 44. Seniors Shaun Klimesh and Martin Horstman both went sub-50 with a 47 on the course and 49. Additional Warriors linksters on the course included Jacob Bohr (53), Brady Jaster (63), Brady Lensing (66) and Aiden Rothmeyer (73).
“This was obviously a monumental improvement from our first outing from only eight days ago. I was very impressed with our play. It was awesome to see what our potential can be, but Jackson Heights sets up pretty well for us. It’s very similar to Silver Springs. The next step in the progression is to transfer this type of play to courses that are unfamiliar. But this was an important first big step in the right direction,” said South Winn coach Michael Wenthold.
The Kurtenbach brothers were once again on top of the Trojan scorecard only this time sophomore Caleb (49) edged his older brother Garrett (50) by one stroke. Sophomore Braylen Byrne (53) had a good opening round of the season, as did senior Rolin Schmitt (62). Lance Schmitt (66) and junior newcomer Bode Balk (71) rounded out the Trojan scorecard.
“It was nice to see Caleb put a little pressure on his older brother, and they will only make each other better golfers as the season picks up in earnest,” noted Coach Reicks.
Lady Warriors edge TV
The Lady Trojans may have “won the battle” but South Winneshiek “won the war” as the Lady Warriors edged the Trojans 252-259 to grab the team title. A very young Decorah squad posted a team score of 305 in third.
The Trojans’ Tess Franzen (57) and Mariah Throndson (58) swept the medalist honors, but the Lady Warriors had excellent balanced team scoring to defeat the Trojans by seven strokes.
“Tess and Mariah did a great job tonight, and both know their best golf is still ahead of them,” said Coach Reicks. “We need to tighten the gap between our ones and twos and the rest of our roster. If we can do that, and I am confident that we can, we will surprise some people by the end of the season.”
Freshmen Morgan Vsetecka (70) and Kaitlyn Schroeder (74) settled in nicely and show excellent potential to be very good high school golfers. Junior newcomer Alison Leibold (81) rounded out the Trojan scorecard.
South Winn’s Annisten Ondrashek and Brooke Steffans fired rounds of 61, while Ruthie Frana added a 64. Rounding out the Warriors’ scorecard with a 66 was Katrina Hageman. Others on the course for South Winn were Elizabeth Bohr (68) and Kylee Tieskoetter (71).
Decorah was led by Hope Stahl who toured the course with a 71. Elora Schnitzler and Sophia Fahey provided rounds of 74 with Ella Carlson shooting an 85. Shelby Hageman was also on the course with an 88.
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