The Ripon High School Tiger golf team broke away from the traditional scoring format Monday as it took part in the Berlin Invitational and finished 11th out of 17 schools from around the state with a score of 364.
Lance Goeden hits his ball out of the sand trap during the Berlin Invitational Monday.
Tracy Landerman photo
The meet, which took place at Mascoutin Golf Course, consisted of six holes each of best ball, alternate shot and scramble. Each school could have four teams of two golfers.
Kettle Moraine Lutheran won the competition with a 318 and was followed by Seymour (322), Kettle Moraine Lutheran (325), Campbellsport (329), Beaver Dam (340), Lourdes Academy (347), Berlin (350), Waupaca (350), Lomira (352), New London (355), Ripon (364), Fox Valley Lutheran (365), Markesan (369), Winnebago Lutheran Academy (370), Winneconne (374) and Princeton/Green Lake (423). Appleton East also had golfers at the invitational, but was unable to field enough to factor into the team standings.
“I think the guys like the different format,” Ripon head coach Paul Wiegel said. “It’s fun to do something that is a change of pace. It can be a struggle though when you’re not entirely relying on your own game. Anybody who’s ever played in the scramble knows that your swing can fall apart, and I think some of the guys struggled with that yesterday. It’s not critical though. We have a couple of these fun tournaments and it’s nice to just do something like that every once in a while.”
Making up twosomes for Ripon were sophomores Max Reabe and Blake Bradley (tied for 29th out of 67 with an 86), sophomores Henry Pier and Brett Kastenschmidt (tied for 31st with an 87), junior Ian Arnetveit and sophomore Sam Rhoden (tied for 48th with a 92), and freshmen Lance Goeden and Ben Weiske (60th with a 99).
Lance Goeden hits his ball out of the sand trap during the Berlin Invitational Monday.
The Tigers experienced an up-and-down day last week Thursday in two South Central Conference mini-meets, tying for first place in one event and finishing fourth in the other.
At Thal Acres Links & Lanes in Westfield, Ripon shot a 166 to tie Wisconsin Dells for the top spot. Mauston finished third with a 168, followed by Berlin (169), Wautoma/Wild Rose (175), Nekoosa (182), Westfield (183) and Adams-Friendship (195).
“I thought the guys played really well in Westfield,” Ripon head coach Paul Wiegel said. “Coming in there tied for first place was great.”
Pier led the Tigers with a two-over-par 38, tying for second place in a 40-player field. Berlin’s Hudson Masters earned medalist honors with an even-par 36.
“We had a great round from Henry posting a sub 40 score for the first time,” Wiegel said.
Reabe shot a 40 to tie for sixth place, while Arnetveit recorded a 43 to tie for 12th. Bradley added a 45 to tie for 17th and Rhoden finished with a 46 to tie for 22nd.
At Waushara Country Club in Wautoma, Ripon posted a 173 to place fourth.
Berlin won the mini-meet with a 154, finishing 11 strokes ahead of second-place Wisconsin Dells and 18 strokes better than third-place Wautoma/Wild Rose. Westfield (178), Mauston (180), Nekoosa (183) and Adams-Friendship (184) rounded out the team standings.
Arnetveit led Ripon with a three-over-par 39, tying for sixth place. Berlin’s Cayson Starks took medalist honors with an even-par 36. Wiegel said a highlight of Arnetveit’s round was a hole-out eagle from 150 yards.
Bradley finished with a 44 to tie for 16th, while Pier, Reabe and Rhoden each shot 45 to tie for 18th.
“It’s great to be in a situation where you’ve got four of our varsity players all capable of posting a low score,” Wiegel said. “Of course you want a peak at the right time, and that would be as we move toward the conference meet in a few weeks.”
He added that the JV team continues to be consistently strong, finishing near the top all the time, and that Goeden is playing really well.
“As always, with anybody who knows golf, it comes down to the short game and putting, and hopefully a few of the guys can put a couple of things together there in their short game and take a few strokes off here and there to really put us in contention,” Wiegel said.
Ripon had finished second to Berlin in each of the first three conference mini-meets prior to last week Thursday.
Up next
Ripon took part in another conference mini-meet Tuesday as it traveled to The Lakes at Lake Arrowhead, which was hosted by Nekoosa and finished after press time. It also took part in the Green Lake/Princeton Invitational Wednesday after the paper went to press. That competition took place at The Golf Courses of Lawsonia.
The Tigers will travel Tuesday, May 12 to Cold Water Canyon in Wisconsin Dells for another mini-meet, which is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.