Golfers get chilly welcome to 2012 season

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The golfers should have known it was coming.

After one of the mildest springs on record, the first golf meet of the 2012 spring brought horrific conditions that challenged the heartiest souls at the Hudson Invitational on Monday.

New Richmond, Somerset and St. Croix Central played in the traditional season opener at Troy Burne Golf Club. This was the first year that the invitational was divided into two divisions. New Richmond placed eighth among the 12 teams in the large school division.

This is one of the least experienced varsity lineups New Richmond has fielded in many years. Senior Kyle Montgomery, juniors Ben Norman and T.J. Leverenz, sophomore Connor McCann and freshman Cole Hallmark made up New Richmond’s varsity lineup for the first varsity match. Long-time Tiger coach Jim Saliny said sophomore Tanner Wisemiller will likely move into the varsity five in the near future.

“Conditions were brutal. The wind was just howling.” Saliny said of Monday’s meet. “The kids had to learn how to play in the wind.”

Saliny said golf teams should be out to excellent starts because of the early opening at most area courses. Most local players had several rounds played before official practice began. In the Tigers’ case, the players had enough rounds in that the first few days of practice were used to play qualifying rounds.

Somerset was among the leaders in the small school division. Spartan senior Jake Green had a big day, taking third overall in the tournament by shooting a 77. Sophomore Zach Bahr has made considerable improvement since last season, shooting an 85 on Monday.

Somerset coach Bill Powers said he has four top flight varsity players and he is looking for a fifth player to step up to fill out the lineup.

St. Croix Central is on the other end of the spectrum. The Panthers lost seven varsity players from last season. Central coach Chris Buckel said he has high expectations for his only senior, Luke DeGross, and his two returning juniors, Jake Bonte and Zach Bresina.

Conference golf competition starts this week. The Middle Border Conference teams will play in their first match of the season at Osceola on Thursday. The Dunn-St. Croix Conference teams start their season at Mondovi on Friday.

2012 Hudson Invitational

Large Schools: Tartan 333, River Falls 343, Woodbury 350, Superior 351, Hudson 354, Eau Claire North 355, Eau Claire Memorial 363, New Richmond 365, Chippewa Falls 373, Park 377, Rice Lake 385, Menomonie 411

New Richmond scores

Kyle Montgomery 88, Ben Norman 90, Cole Hallmark 93, TJ Leverenz 94, Connor McCann 99

Small Schools: Unity 337, Osceola 353, Somerset 356, Amery 377, Ellsworth 388, Baldwin-Woodville 399, Mondovi 405, Durand 409, Prescott 438, St. Croix Central 471

Somerset scores

Jake Green 77, Zach Bahr 85, Matt Skoglund 93, Danny Green 101, Dante Germain 112

St. Croix Central scores

Zach Bresina 100, Jake Bonte 107, Luke DeGross 122, Nathan Bringgold 122, Jacob Wengelski 130

Tags: sports, tigers, panthers, spartans, golf, prep