Elk Mound golf fifth, Colfax sixth at D-SC conference match

By Cara L. Dempski

GLENWOOD CITY — The rain and stormy weather appeared to have gotten to the Elk Mound and Colfax boys’ golf teams that was ever-present at the 2017 Dunn-St. Croix Conference tournament held at Glen Hills Golf Course.

The Glenwood City course played host to the six-team, 18-hole tournament last Tuesday, May 16 despite a stormy, slow start to the day.

The meet, originally scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and go for 18 holes, was postponed until 11 a.m. and then changed to nine holes when an early thunderstorm and more severe weather were predicted for the afternoon.

The severe storms held off until late afternoon, however, and the teams were able to play 18 holes.

For the two area squads not much changed from the previous eight conference meets, as the Mounders and Vikings finished in their usual standings.

Elk Mound took fifth with 383 strokes, while Colfax placed sixth with 456 strokes.

Spring Valley won the D-SC tournament with a low tally of 336 and claimed the overall conference championship with 58 points thanks to six wins in the previous eight conference meets.

The Redbirds also had the individual medalist as Tyler Leach shot a two-under par 70 to win the conference tournament and overall individual championship for a second straight year with 100 total points (based on finish at each conference meet).

Mondovi, last year’s team titliest, took second in the overall standings shooting a 272. Mondovi nipped Durand, who had entered the tournament in second, by a point 45 to 44 in the final point standings.

The Panthers tallied a 383 to take fourth behind host and third-place finisher Glenwood City who accumulated a 377.

The Mounder’s Jameson Ruenzer was the only area golfer to make the all-conference teams after finishing with 44 points to garner second-team honors. 

With the conference and regular seasons completed, the teams will turn their attention to the WIAA tournament series. Elk Mound opened Division 2 regional play   May 23 for 18 holes at Lake Arrowhead in Nekoosa, while Colfax will head to Frederic for the Division 3 regional contest the following day (May 24).

Elk Mound

Senior Jameson Rubenzer will have graduated by the time he leads the Elk Mound golf team back onto the course May 23 at Lake Arrowhead. The Mounder golfer certainly led the team at the D-SC match, finishing 18 holes in 84 strokes to place third in the conference as an individual.

Rubenzer scored 39 on his first round of nine, and 45 on his second, while his teammate Nathaniel Schreiber finished his day with 98 shots after going 49 and 49 for his two trips around the course.

Colton Ward finished with a score of 102 after shooting 48 on the way out and 54 on the way back in, Maxwell Marquardt was one stroke behind Ward after hitting for 51 on the first nine and 52 on the second to total 103, and Dillon McLaughlin was replaced by Kaitlyn Schiferl after sustaining a neck injury impeding his swing.

Schiferl scored 109 after finishing her first round with 55 and her second with 54.

“I am very proud of the effort the kids gave,” coach Brandon Powell stated. “It was a difficult day. The weather was tough. It was downright hot and muggy for the second nine holes, and that may have played a factor.”

Colfax

“We had to wait out a long weather delay, but snuck in 18 between storm cells,” coach Mike Dombrowski explained about the D-SC match.

“In the meantime, the teams hunkered down in the clubhouse and enjoyed playing cards and socializing.”

Things got going shortly before noon, and the day wound up being a hot, steamy afternoon that saw the teams persevere with a lot of water, and in Colfax’s case, some ice cream after. Dombrowski speculated the wet course condition early and the heat and humidity later may have made the course play slower, resulting in some higher scores than usual.

Treyton Teige and Richard Stehling tied at 105 to lead the Vikings in the D-SC match. Teige played a better first nine, shooting 52 before picking up 53 on the second trip around, and Stehling scored 55 on his first trip around before shooting just 50 the second.

Trenton Anderson made it around the first time with 59 strokes before shooting just 50 the second time for a total of 109, while Wyatt Olson shot a 137 after taking 68 strokes on the first nine and 69 on the second. Boden Bergeson rounded off the team with 69 strokes the first time around and 74 the second for a total of 143.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TEAM RESULTS: 1. Spring Valley 336, 2. Mondovi, 3. Glenwood City 377, 4. Durand 383, 5. Elk Mound 387, 6. Colfax 456.

OVERALL CONFERENCE STANDINGS: 1. Spring Valley 58 pts., 2. Mondovi 45 pts., 3. Durand 44 pts., 4. Glenwood City 31 pts., 5.Elk Mound 24 pts., 6. Colfax 10 pts.