Holton Golf April 8, 2019
After coming off a team win at Hiawatha, the Holton High School varsity golf squad found itself dominated by Sabetha’s golfers on the Bluejays’ home turf on Monday afternoon.
The Wildcats took third as a team and landed two golfers in the top 10 — and one missing the top 10 by a single stroke — at the 18-hole Sabetha Invitational, which saw the home team taking the victory and landing four golfers in the top five.
“Our top three golfers were competitive with their scores,” Holton Head Coach Kurt Haussler said of his team’s performance on Monday. “But we still need to improve our consistency in ball-striking and short game.”
Coach Haussler said his team finished third in four different ways — in the two-man, four-man and six-man scoring.
“This is a format they used years ago and is unique to the Sabetha Invitational,” he said.
Individually, Sabetha’s Jesse Burger finished ahead of the pack, shooting 36 on the front nine and 43 on the back for a 79 total, followed by teammates David Pierson in second, Carson Ukele in third and Marcus Funk in fifth. Marysville’s Jackson Rader filled out the top five with his fourth-place finish.
Holton senior Rafe Folk, who finished sixth at Hiawatha on Friday, April 5, led the Wildcats with an eighth-place finish, shooting 48 on both the front nine and back nine for a 96 total.
Also, Wildcat senior Ryan Taylor, who finished second at Hiawatha, took 10th with a 98 score — 50 on the front nine and 48 on the back — while freshman Reese Holaday, who finished fourth at Hiawatha, missed the top 10 by one stroke, shooting 51 up front and 48 in the back for a 99 total.
With the exception of Taylor, Haussler noted, all of Holton’s golfers improved their back nine scores on Monday.
“I thought that it took most of the guys on our team about nine holes to adjust to the speed and firmness of Sabetha’s greens,” Haussler said. “But I’m proud of the way our guys adjusted and improved from the front nine to the back.”
The Wildcats will return to Sabetha this coming Monday to take part in a nine-hole Big Seven League quad that will also feature Royal Valley.
“We’re looking forward to another opportunity to play up there again,” Haussler said.
Scoring
Team scores: 1. Sabetha 336, 2. Seneca 396, 3. Holton 405, 4. Marysville 435, 5. Maur Hill 435.
Two-man scores: 1. Sabetha 160, 2. Marysville 188, 3. Holton 197, 4. Maur Hill 210, 5. Seneca 212.
Four-man scores: 1. Sabetha 380, 2. Seneca 406, 3. Holton 462.
Six-man scores: 1. Sabetha 540, 2. Seneca 618, 3. Holton 659.
Individual results: 1. Jesse Burger (Sab.) 36-43 79, 2. David Pierson (Sab.) 41-40 81, 3. Carson Ukele (Sab.) 42-43 85, 4. Jackson Rader (Mvle.) 45-43 88, 5. Marcus Funk (Sab.) 46-45 91, 6. Eric Hammes (NC) 46-47 93, 7. Dalton Schmelzle (NC) 50-46 96, 8. Rafe Folk (Hol.) 48-48 96, 9. Nathan Sowers (MH) 47-50 97, 10. Ryan Taylor (Hol.) 50-48 98.
Other Holton scores: 11. Reese Holaday 51-48 99, 19. Drew Morris 60-52 112, 29. Karsen Brandt 69-58 127, 30. Carson Taylor 68-59 127.
