Hornets golf runs late season gauntlet
Saying that the Colby golf team had a busy final two weeks of the season may be a bit of an understatement. The team found itself traveling all over central Wisconsin in an attempt to make up as many of their postponed matches as possible. The journey concluded in the Cloverbelt conference meet held at Skyline Golf Course in Black River Falls, their final match before the WIAA regionals next week.
The Hornets faced off against their conference foes on Tuesday morning in the final match of the 2023 regular season. Colby took eighth place at the event, putting up a team score of 486.
Kaden Wiese led the way for the Hornets, shooting a 113 over the 18-hole course. Bogeys on the first two holes appeared to bode well for the senior and outside a hiccup on the fifth hole, which seemed to give several golfers issues, he had set himself up nicely over the first half of the course, shooting a 53. A tough start to the back nine put Wiese in a bit of a hole for the second half of the match, though bogeys on the 13th and 17th holes kept his score from rising higher than 60.
John Kaiser was Colby’s second golfer, putting up a final score of 116. His best holes came on bogeys on the seventh and 17th holes. Tucker Brost was third for the team, posting a score of 118. The senior posted bogeys on the first, sixth and 16th holes.
Zander Engel rounded out the team with a score of 139. He shot for a teambest par on the 11th hole, as well as bogeys on the second and fourth holes.
Invitational
The team warmed up for the conference meet with an 18-hole affair at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Cadott this past Saturday. The event, hosted by Stanley-Boyd, saw golfers from 14 other schools come to compete.
The Hornets got off to a slower start on the front nine but Brost and Wiese seemed to navigate the second half of the course with a bit more ease.
Brost ended up leading Colby with a final score of 102, putting forth a solid performance with a couple of highlights. He had a pair of the Hornets’ best performances by completing holes four and eleven in three shots each. The senior’s biggest struggles came on some of the course’s toughest holes, a long fifth hole and a 12th hole that is considered to be one of the most difficult on the back nine. He concluded his day with a solid performance on the 18th hole and walked away with a score of 49 on the latter half of the course.
Wiese, meanwhile, was consistent as Colby’s second golfer. He finished with a final score of 104 with his best performance of the day also coming on the 11th hole. While finishing a few holes in the first half of the course in seven strokes, Wiese was steady throughout the day and avoided any huge mistakes, with only the par-five 17th hole making him use more than seven shots.
Kaiser finished third for the Hornets. After a tough first hole, he settled down and played a solid front nine. The back half provided a little more challenge, especially the final five holes, but he came away with a final score of 115 on the day.
Engel rounded out the team’s scores for the day. After a solid start through the first four holes, the tricky fifth once again caused trouble for a member of the Colby team. Engel’s best performance of the day came on the 15th hole, where he finished it in a team-best three strokes. He ended the day with a score of 156.
The Hornets shot a 183 as a team at the Neillsville Country Club last Thursday.
Wiese had a team best performance shooting a 57 on the day. Kaiser followed with a score of 61, Brost followed with a 65 and Engel rounded out the team by shooting a 73. Colby Invite
The Hornets hosted their home match at Black River Golf Course in Medford on May 8th. The team needed to battle less than ideal conditions, with cool temps, wind and rolling rain showers providing additional obstacles in addition to the normal hazards on the course.
Brost provided the team’s best performance, shooting a 55 during the ninehole competition. He opened and closed with his most successful holes, shooting for par on the first hole and notching a bogey on the ninth.
Kaiser finished the day with a score of 58 and came in as the Hornets’ second lowest scorer. After a slow start, he finished well on the latter part of the course, matching par on the seventh hole and picking up a bogey on the ninth.
Wiese came in just behind Kaiser, shooting a 59 on the day. The senior’s best hole was also the seventh, where he shot for par by completing it in just four strokes. Engel came in fourth for the Hornets with a score of 61 and shot for par on the fourth hole and Jeremiah Bridger rounded out the team with a final score of 84.
The conditions weren’t much better during the team’s May 2 match in Marshfield. With temperatures not even reaching the 50’s and wind gusts ranging between 20 to 30 miles per hour, the elements were once again a factor to contend with.
Wiese and Brost tied for the team’s top spot, both shooting 52 over the nine-hole course. The pair matched each other shot for shot over the first three holes before Brost took a one stroke advantage on the fourth hole. Wiese got that stroke back on the fifth and had one of his best holes of the day on the sixth, where he bogeyed. He also bogeyed on the seventh and ninth holes, but Brost was ever so slightly better, shooting for par on the seventh and bogeying on the ninth.
Engel came in third for the team, shooting a 65 on the day. He had the team’s best score after three holes, his bogey on the second hole registering as the team’s best. Kaiser rounded out the team’s results with a score of 71, with double-bogeys on the second and sixth holes proving to be his strongest results.
PAR FOR THE COURSE -Kaden Wiese lines up at Rivers Edge Golf Course.SUBMITTED PHOTO/BRANDON BUTKUS
