Colfax, Elk Mound golfers start slow on home course

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX — It was a rough start for the Mounders and Vikings golf teams.

Elk Mound took fifth place out of six teams, and Colfax was sixth out of six April 6 at the first Dunn-St. Croix meet of the season held at the Whitetail Golf Club.

Spring Valley’s team of Tyler Leach, Zach Boisen, Josh Hannack, Tyler Konobeck and Cody Anderson won their first match of the season with a total of 182 strokes.

Both teams played at Mondovi April 10, and took a few days off before traveling to Spring Valley April 13. The Vikings and Mounders will hit the links again April 18 at Glen Hills, the Hilltoppers home course.

Colfax

Coach Mike Dombrowski knew it might be something of an uphill battle to get good golf out of his team in 2017, but he likely was not expecting the start he got April 6.

“It’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for us,” Dombrowski said. “But we gained a lot of understanding and experience about what we need to work on.”

The Vikings finished sixth out of six teams after picking up 250 strokes in their first meet this season.

Treyton Teige led the Viking golfers with a team low score of 55 strokes on the Whitetail’s front nine. The junior golfer stayed within one or two shots of par on every hole but the par-five three, where it took him ten tries to sink the ball.

Richard Stehling logged 66 over the same nine holes, with his two strongest holes being one and two where he was one over par on each. Bryce Fransway shot 65 on the front nine, where he struggled with holes four and five, going seven over par on the fourth and three over on the fifth.

Trenton Anderson picked up 69, with his best hole being the seventh. He finished play on the par-four hole with four strokes. Wyatt Olson rounded out the group of five with 74 strokes and also struggled on the fourth and fifth.

SHORT GAME — Elk Mound’s Lexi Schindler took her second putt attempt on the green of the Whitetail Golf Club’s ninth hole. The Mounders stepped onto the course April 6 for the first conference match this season and came away with a fifth-place finish. —photo by Cara L. Dempski

Elk Mound

Mounder golf coach Brandon Powell knows his team has more talent than it displayed April 6 at the the Whitetail..

“I know we can golf better than this,” he said. “I think our scores reflect a combination of it being our first meet and tough weather conditions.”

To be fair, it was chilly and windy when six Dunn-St. Croix teams gathered at the Whitetail Golf Club, which certainly did not help the Mounder players.

Still, fifth out of six is nothing to sniff at, and Powell thinks the team’s short game will rapidly improve, which will help scores drop as the season progresses.

Senior Jameson Rubenzer led the Elk Mound effort by completing the front nine in 50 strokes. He tied for tenth place with Durand’s Julia Hayden and Zach Boisen of Spring Valley. The Mounder did not start strong, taking eight shots to sink the ball on the par-four first, but managed to stay within a shot or two of par for the following eight holes.

Nathaniel Schreiber scored 55 over half the course, and seems to have done best on the seventh, where he managed par in three shots. Colton Ward took 58 strokes, with his best hole also being the seventh.

Maxwell Marquardt started at the first, and took a double-bogey on the par-four hole by sinking his putt in six. Dillon McLaughlin rounded out Elk Mound’s five varsity players by shooting a 63, which is 17 over par on the front nine.