New Richmond boys golf advances two into sectional tournament

• Tanner Wisemiller

Sophomore Tanner Wisemiller hits his first drive as Tiger coach Jim Saliny and tournament manager John Larson look on during the New Richmond Division 1 regional tournament last Wednesday.
• Kole Hallmark

Freshman Kole Hallmark emerged as a valuable member of the Tiger varsity team this season.
• Connor McCann

Sophomore Connor McCann attempts to sink a shot in the recent New Richmond Division 1 regional meet.

Talk about it

Junior Ben Norman and sophomore Tanner Wisemiller used strong back nines to play their way into the field of this Tuesday’s WIAA Division 1 Marshfield Sectional Golf Tournament.

Norman and Wisemiller advanced as individual qualifiers from the New Richmond Division 1 Regional Tournament last Wednesday.

The Tigers didn’t reach their overall goal of qualifying as a team for the sectional tournament. The top four teams advance from the regional to the sectional level and the Tigers placed fifth.

New Richmond coach Jim Saliny had prepared the Tigers for tough competition at the regional meet, knowing there were six teams fully capable of advancing to the sectional meet. Hudson and River Falls went into the regional as heavy favorites to advance. That left two spots for New Richmond, Superior, Eau Claire Memorial and Eau Claire North to fight over. Superior surprised everyone by tying River Falls for the regional title with a 323 score. Hudson was third at 332 and Memorial got the final team spot by shooting 338. New Richmond was fifth at 344.

The front nine was especially difficult for the Tigers, with none of the five golfers shooting under 44. As the Tigers started the back nine, Saliny tried to inspire the boys to turn up their play. Norman and Wisemiller both were able to make the necessary changes. Norman shot 38 on the back and Wisemiller shot 41.

“That showed some guts, coming back like that,” Saliny said.

Norman’s 82 was the best score among the individual qualifiers. Wisemiller’s day wasn’t done after 18 holes. He tied Eau Claire North’s Cale Dutter at 85, making a playoff necessary to decide the fourth individual sectional qualifying position. Wisemiller got a break when Dutter hit his drive out of bounds on the first hole of sudden death. Wisemiller took a conservative approach, bogeyed the hole and advanced to the sectional meet.

The other scores for New Richmond in the regional meet were Connor McCann at 88, Kole Hallmark at 89 and Kyle Montgomery at 90.

With Montgomery being the only senior on the Tiger roster, Saliny said the team has surpassed all of his expectations for the season.

“I was surprised with how well they did. I figured they’d be in the middle of the pack in the conference,” Saliny said in reference to the Tigers’ second place finish in the Middle Border Conference.

2012 WIAA New Richmond Division 1 Boys Golf Regional Tournament

Team scores: Superior 323, River Falls 323, Hudson 335, Eau Claire Memorial 338, New Richmond 344, Eau Claire North 350, Chippewa Falls 353, Rice Lake 361, Menomonie 379

New Richmond scores

Ben Norman 44-38=82; Tanner Wisemiller 44-41=85; Connor McCann 46-42=88; Kole Hallmark 46-43=89; Kyle Montgomery 46-44-90

Tags: sports, tigers, golf, prep