New Richmond, Somerset golfers show they're Middle Border Conference contenders

Talk about it

The first Middle Border Conference boys golf match of the 2012 season showed that New Richmond and Somerset will be contenders for this season’s conference championship.

New Richmond won the team title in last Thursday’s MBC opener, held at Krooked Kreek Golf Club in Osceola. Osceola placed second in the match, with Somerset finishing third among the eight MBC teams.

Seniors from New Richmond and Somerset shared the medalist honors in the opening round. New Richmond’s Kyle Montgomery and Somerset’s Jake Green shared the top honors, each shooting a 39. With defending MBC champion Charlie Danielson of Osceola unavailable for several matches of the season, players are trying to build an early edge in the race for conference season medalist honors.

New Richmond’s score was a major improvement from the Hudson Invitational earlier in the week. Tiger coach Jim Saliny said Montgomery played a couple sub-40 rounds in qualifying, so he wasn’t surprised by the 39 score. Montgomery did get a fortunate bounce on his final hole that made the 39 possible. His approach shot hit a tree and deflected onto the green.

Depth works in New Richmond’s favor again this season. Ben Norman and Connor McCann shot 42s at Osceola, while Tanner Wisemiller finished at 44 and T.J. Leverentz at 45.

The Tiger junior varsity also won a match that night, finishing with a 171 score. Hunter Cox led the JV with a 40, Adam Giannini shot a 41 and Jake LaMirande finished with a 43.

Somerset’s varsity lineup has already had a couple questions answered. Zach Bahr showed at Hudson that he could play at the varsity level. At Osceola, it was freshman Hunter Iverson who stepped up, shooting a 46.

“It was Hunter’s first competitive match ever,” said Somerset coach Bill Powers. “The only golf he’s ever played was with his dad. He hit the ball real nice.”

Powers said with the progress of Bahr and Iverson, he thinks the Spartans can compete on the same level as New Richmond and Osceola. He said that begins with Green, who he considers the second best player in the conference behind Danielson.

The next conference match will be played next Tuesday at the New Richmond Golf Club. New Richmond has two non-conference events before that, playing at Chippewa Falls on Saturday and at Tartan on Monday.

MBC golf match

at Osceola

Team scores: New Richmond 167, Osceola 171, Somerset 174, Amery 179, Ellsworth 184, Durand 192, Prescott 197, Baldwin-Woodville 198

New Richmond scores

Kyle Montgomery 39, Connor McCann 42, Ben Norman 42, Tanner Wisemiller 44, T.J. Leverentz 45

Somerset scores

Jake Green 39, Zach Bahr 43, Matt Skoglund 46, Hunter Iverson 46, Dante Germain 52

Tags: sports, tigers, spartans, golf, prep