Boys team takes 23rd out of 24 teams
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
With a spring season that has resembled winter more than anything, getting time on a golf course to practice – let alone compete – has been easier said than done.
And for the East Troy boys squad, Monday’s trip to the 24-team Geneva National Invitational represented the 2018 opener.
It certainly was an uphill climb.
East Troy posted a team score of 505 to finish 23rd overall, but despite some struggles, coach Ryan Manske was encouraged, especially in the face of the dire weather-related circumstances.
“After a long spring and only getting on a golf course once, the golfers struggled today,” he said. “It was nice to see the boys power through the conditions and work through their swings.”
With the situation, Manske said the goals for Monday were simplified a bit.
“The main goal was to try and keep the ball in play and determine what we need to work on,” he said.
Badger won the team title with a 324, followed by Wilmot with a 335, Waunakee with a 337, Platteville with a 340 and Edgerton with a 342.
Mason Bertschinger led East Troy with a 111 (51-60), followed by Tommy Hanson with a 119 (53-66), Trevor Nowatske with a 123 (54-69), Dan O’Brien with a 152 (82-70) and Eliot Felske with a 175 (87-88).
Nowatzke, who made his varsity debut, and Hanson each showed promise, Manske said.
“(Nowatzke) had his ups and downs, but his score was respectable,” he said. “He had some nerves at the start, but had some nice holes in the middle of his round.
“Tommy Hanson showed a lot of improvement this year. He had a good round, but got a little tired at the end and had some big numbers the last few holes that he played.”
Badger’s Paul Watson won the individual crown with a 73 (38-35), followed by Central’s Paul Lynch with a 77 (39-38).
Now that he has a completed meet in the books, Manske said he and the team can start to fine tune some things.
“It was nice to get on the course,” he said. “The kids were nervous without having much practice on a course. After today, they know what they should be working on and will get some much-needed practice on a course this week.”
East Troy was right back on the course Tuesday with a Rock Valley Conference mini-meet at Prairie Woods Golf Course.
It’s the conference meets that will be the focus – along with constant improvement – moving forward, Manske said.
“Our goal is to improve in the conference meets,” he said. “We were close to some others in the conference today. We have a couple JV players that will have their chance at Prairie Woods.”
