Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School No. 2 golfer Aaron Schaal watches a putt on the 18th green of Golden Sands at the season-opening meet Friday. Schaal posted a team-best round of 50 on the back nine.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Austin Kohl chips onto the 18th green at Golden Sands Golf Course. He posted a round of 45, fourth-best overall as the Hawks tallied the top four rounds of the day.
Shawano golfers posted five rounds of 46 or better, including Braxten Surber’s event-best 40, to win Friday’s season-opening meet at Golden Sands Golf Course in Cecil.
Surber led the way, but Josh Mueller and Kobe Schreiber were only three strokes behind, and senior Austin Kohl added a 45 as the fourth-best score at the four-team meet.
“Those are like midseason scores,” Shawano assistant coach Jay Lohmiller said. “I was pretty happy with that.”
Shawano finished with a team score of 172. Clintonville finished in second with a 206. Gresham/Menominee Indian (219) and Bonduel (221) battled for third.
“I just wanted to see some consistency because it’s very difficult early in the year,” Lohmiller said. “They surprised me. Especially the top five in varsity played very well this early in the year.”
With the recent rain, the back nine of the course played to a par 34 because the usual par-5 10th was shortened into a par-3 at just 100 yards.
Surber had a birdie on the 17th hole and a par on the 12th. He bogeyed the remaining holes and double-bogeyed the 18th.
Gresham/Menominee Indian was led by Josh Hoffman’s round of 46. Morgun Fish ended with a 51 to give the team a large advantage over the top of Bonduel’s lineup.
The Bears’ top golfer Austin Acker finished the day with a 53, but it was Aaron Schaal, the team’s No. 2 golfer, who posted the best round of the day for Bonduel. The sophomore shot a 50, which stood out to head coach Dave LaBerge.
“I think if he can stay around there for us, I know Austin will get more in the mid-to-high 40s,” LaBerge said. “If we can get a couple of these other guys down into the low 50s, that’ll probably be where we’re going to be this year.”
Kody Jashinsky added a 56 and Jack Jiskra rounded out the scoring with a 62.
With the limited time on the course, LaBerge’s group has not had any time to get out on the range, preventing the team from working more consistently on technique.
“Just get out there and get the kids working on the little things and, unfortunately, at the top, we need a couple of our kids to play better,” LaBerge said. “I think they hopefully will, and I hope this helps.”
Clintonville was led by Jack Goerlinger’s round of 47, which put him seventh at the meet.
Bonduel Meet
April 7
Golden Sands Golf Course
Team scores: Shawano, 172; Clintonville, 206; Gresham/Menominee Indian, 219; Bonduel, 221.
S: Braxten Surber, 40; Josh Mueller, 43; Kobe Schreiber, 44; Austin Kohl, 45; Tyler Buerman, 46.
C: Jack Goerlinger, 47; Jarrett Colla, 51; Cameron Zeinert, 53; Matt Carpenter, 55; Ben Cotherman, 73.
G/MI: Josh Hoffman, 46; Morgun Fish, 51; Austin Welk, 54; Ted Ballin, 68; Zach Simonsen, 84.
B: Aaron Schaal, 50; Austin Acker, 53; Kody Jashinsky, 56; Jack Jiskra, 62; Brooks Dehn, 64.