Success at Sectional

Well, it may not have been exactly what we were looking for but it was still a great day, regardless. I told the guys if we shot a 320, we'd be right in the mix. And low and behold, we did shoot a 320 and came up just 4 strokes short of Concordia for 3rd place and a trip to Regionals. That was the disappointing part... The good news is that Neumy and Tegan both shot 75s which was good enough to advance individually to Regionals! They were 2 out of the 3 that will go as individuals next Thursday to Orchard Ridge. Both of the guys played outstanding and I was so proud of them. The rest of the team played pretty good as well and it was an awesome thing for the younger guys to experience. I guess next time, I will just have to tell the guys the number to shoot for is 315. Enjoy the picture of our team on a great day out at Brookwood!

Starting to Come Together

This past week we had 2 matches and an invitational. The weather was much nicer (for the most part) and we were able to produce some good results.

On Monday, we faced Bishop Luers at home where we posted a 168-174 victory over the Knights. It was a nice win over a solid team. We were led by Senior Aaron Neumeyer who shot a 39, the best round of the day. The real hero for the Braves was 6-man Austin Friesen who's 40 was the difference between winning and losing. Austin's scorecard was full of 4's and 5's with the exception of a great birdie-2 on the island green. Matthew McNeal's 44 and Tegan Wild's 45 also contributed to the win. The JV was led by Josh Buck's 49 but came up 9 strokes short, 210-201.

Thursday, we played up north at Lake James CC against Fremont, a team we haven't had much success with in recent years (especially at their course). However, this day would be different. Again, it was Neumeyer leading the Braves for the sixth straight time with a 4 over par 40. Wild and McNeal both had 43s and Keegan Williams shot 45. Our team total of 171 was ten strokes better than Fremont. The victory pushed our record to 6-3, the best we have been through 9 matches in the past 6 years. Trevor Smith led the JV, shooting 49, but unfortunately they came up 3 strokes short of a victory.

Saturday was quite possibly the longest day of our lives. We arrived at the course between 11:00-11:30 AM and didn't leave until nearly 8:00 PM, thanks to an hour and a half storm delay. The guys struggled on the front 9 but rebounded nicely on the back to shoot a 344, good enough for 7th place out of the 15 participating teams. We had a 180 on the front and 159 on the back. The 159 was the second best in the field and only 1 stroke behind Carol, the winning team. Tegan Wild had our best score with an 81, which tied for 8th overall and just 3 back of first place. Neumeyer shot 82, Keegan 87, and Austin had 94. Overall, not a bad showing, but still far short of our potential.

This week we have a match at Pond-a-River against Woodlan and Adams Central on Tuesday and that's it. There is a possibility of a make-up match with Snider in the near future but nothing has been solidified. Stay tuned for updates and have a great week.

A Strange Couple of Weeks

Sorry it has been a couple weeks since I last posted, and I'm also sorry this year has been void of pictures. That will be changing as my father/assistant coach took a few pics that I will upload soon.

Anyways, since the last time I wrote we have 3 dual matches and The Homestead Invitational. Back on April 26 we took on Lakewood Park on a very windy day at Cherry. The wind definitely caused scores to go up a bit but the guys hung tough and combined for a 176. Not bad all things considered. Neumeyer led us with a 42 while Tegan pitched in a 44 and Keegan and Conler posted 45s. It was the first Varsity appearence for Conler. Well done. We pulled out the victory over Lakewood to improve to 2-3 on the year.

We then had 9 days off until our next match, thanks to the weather. We were at home again this past Thursday against Heritage. The match was tight and came down to the final scores being posted. In the end we squeeked out the win 165-168. A very solid performance. Keegan and Neumy both had 40s while Matthew shot a 41 and Tegan a 44. It was a sweet victory to pull our record to 3-3 on the year.

The following night we traveled to Busco and played a very solid round at Eel River. Our team total of 155 was our best of the year. Albeit Eel River isn't the toughest course, but still 155 anywhere is solid. We were led once again by Aaron Neumeyer who has really come on as of late. His EVEN PAR 35 was actually "a little disappointing" considering he started his round with 3 straight birdies. None the less, great job Aaron!! Matthew and Tegan each had 39s and Keegan had a 42. Austin Friesen led the JV with an impressive 40, good enough to earn him a slot on the Varsity for our Invitational the following day.

Orchard Ridge on Saturday did not go quite as well... Neumey was the lone bright spot shooting an 83, while all the other guys struggled all day shooting no better than 92. Our team total of 366 was nowhere near where we are capable of being. It was a disappointing way to conclude an otherwise great week.

The good news is that we have a chance tomorrow to get it right back as Luers pays us a visit at Cherry Hill. Then on Thursday we will be going to Lake James to face Fremont. Both Luers and Fremont are tough opponents, but if we play well, we are capable of winning both matches.

Week 2: Where is Spring?

What a beautiful week! We continued our average of 1 rainout per week with the Heritage match getting rescheduled for May 5th. We did manage to get a match in on Thursday at Warsaw and then had an uncharacteristically nice day on Saturday for the Concordia Invitational.

We faced off against one of the top teams in the state in Warsaw on Thursday, at one of the toughest courses on our schedule in Stonehenge. The weather started out great but got progressively colder as the evening wore on. The guys played pretty well, all things considered, as we shot a 174. Warsaw had 150 to win the match. In our last 2 visits to Stonehenge we shot a 195 in 2009 and 193 in ’07. That is another indication that this year’s team is one of the strongest I’ve coached. We were led by our Super Sophs Matthew McNeal (40) and Keegan Williams (43). Aaron Neumeyer chipped in with a 45 and Tegan Wild had a 46. The JV was led by Conler Brandenberger’s 53, and they shot a 226 as a team.

On Saturday, at Foster Park the weather was much nicer and our scores were as well. McNeal again led the charge, shooting an 80 with a very impressive 37 on the front 9. Williams had a solid 82. Neumeyer was unhappy with his 86 as he couldn’t get a putt to fall all day, and Wild’s 89 gave us a team total of 337. Josh Buck rebounded on the back to shoot a respectable 92. Overall, it wasn’t a bad showing. In our last two trips to the Concordia Invitational we had a 354 in 2008 and a 370 in 2009. Once again, this is encouraging that we are heading in the right direction. We ended up finishing right in the middle of a very deep field.

Looking forward to this coming week, we have matches on Monday at Eel River against Busco and then at home on Tuesday against Lakewood Park. Tuesday is also picture day so make sure the boys are looking their best! Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

** A special congrats goes out to Rick Sholund. His wife gave birth to their second son, Issac, earlier this week. Mom and baby are both healthy and doing great. Praise the Lord!!

Week 1: April 11-16

With the first week of the season under our belts, here is a quick recap of what went on. Tuesday we had our first match of the year vs. Northrop out at Colonial Oaks. The guys had a solid performance finishing with a 168 on a tricky course. Northop bested us by 9 strokes but it was the best score we've had in our first match since I took over 5 years ago.

Thursday, we had our first home match of the season out at Cherry on a cold and windy day. Dwenger and Leo paid us a visit and none of the teams played exceptionally well. Dwenger finished first with a 164 while we got the split shooting 185, which was 15 strokes better than Leo's 200.

Our match Friday got rained out vs. Busco but we are still figuring out a day to reschedule it. Saturday was another nasty day with occasional showers, high winds, and low temperatures. We played in the Woodlan Invitational and shot a 353 team total. Nothing to write home about but not all that bad considering the conditions.

Highlights from the week... Tegan was our low man vs. Northrop with a 5-over 40. Matthew and Aaron both had 42's and Keegan had a 44. Aaron led us on Thursday with a 42...err... I mean 44 (remember to identify your balls, gentlemen) and Tegan had a 45. Keegan came alive on Saturday with an 84 in tough conditions at Brookwood. Aaron had an 87, Tegan a 90, and Josh Buck made his scoring debut with a 92.

We are back at it again this coming week with matches on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Standing at 1-2 on the year, we'll look to get back over .500 by the end of the week.

Welcome to the 2011 Golf Season

To get things started, I thought I would post a little video that I thought might inspire some of the guys to work out a little harder to improve their golf games. The video is by a professional golfer named Ben Crane and he really has some good tips. Enjoy...

Sectionals 2010

Sectionals were yesterday out at Brookwood. The good news is we had a beautiful day. Unfortunately, we picked a bad day to be 'off'. The guys battled hard after a rough front 9 (179) to shoot 167 on the back. Our total of 346 was 25 shots back of getting out of the sectional. Although we were all disappointed, I still couldn't be more proud of the guys. It was a great season and we had some real highlights that I will always remember. I'm looking forward to our banquet today to celebrate the season! Hope to see you all soon.

Here were the guys individual scores:
Aaron Neumeyer: continued his solid play with an 81...only 3 shots back of getting out individually
Taylor Friesen: 83 wasn't exactly what he was hoping for but not bad
Justin Glick: Didn't go Justin's way on this day as he finished with 91. Still doesn't overshadow his great career as a Braves golfer
Tegan Wild: Also had 91. Tegan had been playing much better but this was a good learning experience for Tegan in his first sectional
Matthew McNeal: Also a great learning experience for the Freshman in his first sectional. He shot 100 and had tree trouble on nearly every hole. I would bet my mortgage he improves next year.

Here is a link to some pictures that Mrs. Glick took yesterday. Thanks!

http://sectionals2010.shutterfly.com/


~Coach B