Last summer, the current members of the Austin boys’ golf team tied for first in the state during the Minnesota Golf Association season.

Wednesday, May 10, 2000

Last summer, the current members of the Austin boys’ golf team tied for first in the state during the Minnesota Golf Association season.

But, "That was in the summer, when they were playing 36 holes every day," Austin coach Claudia Pilot said. "In the high school season, there are a lot of other things going on."

All spring season, Pilot has been waiting for her Packers to rise to an elite level.

On Tuesday, they took a step in that direction by beating previously unbeaten Owatonna and Rochester John Marshall in a Big Nine triangular at the Austin Country Club.

The Packers score of 304 was their season low by four strokes. And, the team moved closer to their goal of having four golfers with scores of 75 or lower.

Two Packers – Greg Williamson and Adam Plotts – breached 75, with Williamson carting a 74 to earn meet medalist honors.

Prior to Tuesday, the Packers had difficulty with Big Nine competition, losing to Albert Lea and Mankato East. Those losses looked like flukes when compared to the Packers’ impressive back-to-back second-place finishes in a pair of recent Twin Cities tournaments.

But, Pilot said, to consider those losses flukes would be to underestimate Big Nine golf.

"The best teams in the state are in southern Minnesota," Pilot said. "Some of toughest teams in the state – Mankato East, Owatonna, Rochester Century – are in our conference."

With Tuesday’s victories, the Packers may have righted their course.

"This is what we’ve been shooting for," Pilot said. "Hopefully this will get us back on track for the rest of the season."

Austin next plays in the Red Wing Invitational on Thursday at Mississippi National Golf Links.

Teams

Austin 304

Owatonna 306

Roch JM 344

Medalist

Greg Williamson 39-35 74

Austin

Greg Williamson 39-35 74

Adam Plotts 36-39 75

Brian Duren 39-38 77

Chris Larson 41-37 78

Jeff Clark 43-35 78

David Lorenzen 44-39 83

Owatonna

Brady Hoffman 75

Brady Arnold 76

Pat Hall 77

Neal Sette 85

Nick Stokke 78

Peter Bauck 81

John Marshall

Josh Marshall 83

Brandon Nelson 83

Kory Baker 87

Tyler Burton 91

Brian Moehnke 95

Dan Gurtner 98

 

Current Big Nine standings

Owatonna 6-1

East 4-1

Austin 3-2

Albert Lea 3-2

Century 2-1

Winona 1-1

Faribault 2-3

JM 1-4

West 0-3

Mayo 0-4

Austin girls finish 10th

The Austin and Blooming Prairie girls’ golf teams competed at the Red Wing invitational Tuesday at the Mississippi National course.

Blooming Prairie’s Lisa Meshke shot an 18-hole 81 good for third place.

In the team competition, it was Red Wing winning with a 340 four-player score.

Austin finished in 10th place in the 14-team field with a score of 396. Owatonna was one place in front of Austin with a score of 392. Blooming Prairie finished in 11th with a score of 398.

Austin’s top scorer was Brittany Bertilson with a score of 94. Allison Stutzman shot a 96, Kelly Jones and Noelle Wiebelhaus 103s, Claire Johnson a 105, and Andrea Peterson a 107.

"We played well on the tougher front nine," Austin coach Mark Anderson said. "Claire Johnson had a great front nine with a score of 42.

"We got into trouble with the long rough on the back nine, which the Red Wing coach said was about five strokes easier. If we had kept it in the fairway, it would have made it easier. We could easily have been 20 to 25 strokes better."

Austin next plays the Northern Hills course in Rochester on Thursday. It is a Big Nine Triangular meet with John Marshall and Owatonna.