The Ste. Genevieve Dragon Golfers took to the links twice in the past week and have been on a roll lately. They competed in the Notre Dame Invitational Golf Tournament and managed to finish eighth out of 15 schools. The Dragons shot a 388, and managed to do it at the Dalhousie course, which is notoriously one of the most difficult.
Head Coach Ryan Mueller said, “I was so excited to see how confident they were going into this tournament. While on the driving range, the boys were in a rhythm and groove that I knew we were going to have a good showing.”
In the tournament, Landon Rose shot an 83, which put him in a three-way tie for sixth place. Other scores were Grant Weiler with a 96, Zachary Burr with a 108, Bryce Barley with 101 and Luke Basler with a 108.
The course was really challenging for these Dragon Golfers. Mueller stated, “Throughout the day, we found a lot of tall grass, but how we were able to play out of the tall grass and recover was what mattered to me. The boys did extremely well with course management and knowing how to get out of their difficult lie and situation.”
Mueller was impressed with Rose. He said, “Rose had his best showing of his golf career thus far shooting an 83 at our toughest course. Landon was able to recover from difficult lies and situations while staying positive the whole time. On hole 18, a par five, he was able to get an eagle on the hole, two under par. He also had a birdie, and a few pars as well.”
Rose commented, “I played pretty good in this past weeks tournaments, but there’s a lot I can improve on.”
Weiler also fared well. “Weiler had a couple of rough holes getting double par, but was clearly able to bounce back keeping his score under 100. The mentality was there for him, and the strongest part of his game was his mid range shots being able to put him close to use his short game,” said Mueller.
Barley had a nice outing too. Mueller commented, “Barley had a great start and his putting was the strongest part of his game today. Bryce’s favorite club, the two iron, was not agreeing with him, which made his day a little more difficult than he expected. He was able to put the club away and use his driver, which helped him gain strokes back immensely.”
Barley spoke on his performance and said, “This past week was one of our biggest team challenges because we played in two big tournaments and a conference match three days in a row. As an individual I feel like I started off nervous on Monday but then by Wednesday I started to feel more confident in my mental game, my swing, and ball striking abilities. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Burr found himself in some trouble, but was able to still salvage the day. Mueller said, “Burr was able to use his distance to accurately make his mid range shots get to, or just short of, the green. His strongest club was definitely the driver, as we had some issues with getting his irons lined out correctly on a few holes. He kept a great attitude throughout the duration of the tournament.”
Basler had a rough outing, but did turn it around. Mueller stated, “Basler had a rocky start and told me he wasn’t playing the best, but quickly found his rhythm and started playing great. His strongest club of the day was his driver as well. He was hitting them straight down the middle on most holes, but then did struggle with his mid-range irons. His putting helped him out quite nicely.”
The team also competed in a tri-meet on Wednesday, March 31st against Farmington and Fredericktown. Ste. Gen shot well, but only managed to finish second with a score of 182, behind Farmington’s 160. Mueller said, “We came out swinging well today. We were able to keep all scores in the 40’s that were kept for our overall score.
Basler lead the way with a score of 43, which tied him for third overall. “Basler had his best nine hole average to-date. He ended up only seven over par with a 43. He was able to birdie the toughest hole on Crown Pointe’s course, hole five. Basler was able to get a bogey on all of the remaining holes. This was the most consistent golf I have seen from him as long as I have been his coach. He is showing an extreme amount of potential this year, and I can’t wait to see where he ends up.”
Basler commented, “I felt like I was finally able to play up to the bar that I set for myself at the beginning of the season. Shots were falling and I was able to putt better than I ever have before.”
Weiler was just one stroke behind Basler, with a 44. “Weiler had an extremely strong start by being one under after four holes. This has been the strongest start out of any of our golfers so far this year. He started to gain some strokes back by getting a double, triple and double bogey in a row, but he was able to still keep himself in the low 40’s contributing to our lowest nine hole score of the season,” said Mueller.
Barley had another good match with his putting game, turning in a 46. Mueller commented, “He was able to finish the match with all bogeys except two double bogeys. This may have been his most consistent showing as well. His mental game was just as strong as his golf game. He was able to make adjustments when needed to help keep his score in the mid forties.”
Rose was also able to shoot a 49. “He struggled with a few double bogeys and one triple, but still was able to keep his game in check by scoring in the forties. Landon has done exceptionally well with bouncing back after an undesirable hole or situation,” said Mueller.
Kellen Hogenmiller was just out of the scoring by shooting a 52. Mueller explained, “Hogenmiller had a fantastic start on the day, but struggled with his final three holes putting him into the 50’s. Even though the round wasn’t what he was hoping for, he kept a great attitude the duration of the round.”
Burr ended up with a 56. Mueller noted, “Burr did not have the round he expected nor wanted. He ended up shooting his season high, but he had glimpses of what he is capable of doing on the golf course. He had a decent round, but had three holes that hurt his overall score.”
Mueller summed it up and said, “With this team, consistency is starting to become key to their success. We have been able to keep mostly forties for our final scoring which is why they are seeing this much success. The athletes also have had the best mental toughness I have seen from these groups of boys since being with them.” He continued, “They have just beaten their previous season best of 186 to a 182. I am sure that we will be seeing them break their personal best again this season.”
The team will be keeping their skills sharp by continuing to practice each day and look to lower that total team score even further.
