LE MARS/SIOUX CITY — The Le Mars Community boys golf team played on back-to-back days with a home competition on Monday and then an away meet on Tuesday.
Le Mars hosts MRAC triangular
The Bulldogs hosted a triangular against Missouri River Activities Conference teams Bishop Heelan and Sioux City West at Willow Creek Golf Course on Monday. Sunny skies, calm conditions and temperatures in the 70s made for a perfect day of golf.
Le Mars trailed behind Heelan in the team scoring for the day as the Crusaders shot a 298. Le Mars finished with a 319. West did not have enough golfers to play for team scoring.
“A 319 is a really good score and we are still way ahead of where we were at this point last season,” Le Mars Head Coach Nick Knapp said. “Heelan is just playing really good and consistent golf throughout the whole lineup which is tough to beat.”
The Crusaders had the medalist and runner-up rounds of 72 and 73 on the day. The top Le Mars score was a tie between Dylan Susemihl and Tate Murphy as they each shot a 78.
“The bright spot of the day was definitely Tate Murphy,” Knapp said. “Tate has been getting better all season, and he has had his score count in the last four tournaments. He has been a really nice addition to the team this year.”
Cole Brownmiller was a stroke behind Susemihl and Murphy for the team’s third score. Jacob Plueger rounded off the top four counting scores with an 84.
The team did not use Isaac Tolzin’s 89 or Carter Baumgartner’s 91 towards their team scoring.
Le Mars finishes their conference regular season meets with a 5-2 record. The conference tournament meet will take place on Sept. 27.
Baumgartner takes medalist honors at City Meet
(Sentinel Photo By Allen Hamil) Carter Baumgartner watches his shot in action at Willow Creek Golf Course on Monday. The next day, he finished as individual medalist at the City Tournament at Green Valley Golf Course with a score of 77.
On Tuesday, the Le Mars boys were back in action at the City Tournament held at Green Valley Golf Course against the other schools in the metro area.
Leading the Bulldogs on the day was Baumgartner, who ended up as the overall medalist for the meet with a 77.
“I am really proud of him for bouncing back today after a really rough 18 holes at Willow the day before,” Knapp said.
Baumgartner put together a good 41 across the first nine before firing a 36 on his second nine, the low score for that set of nine along with his teammate Susemihl.
The 36 on the back half for Susemihl was added to his front nine score of 43 for a 79 total for the day.
Cole Brownmiller had the third Le Mars score with an 82. He shot a 42 going out and a 40 coming in. Jacob Plueger completed the team score with an 84 as he shot a 44 on the front nine and a 40 on the back nine.
The team total ended up being a 322 which placed second behind Bishop Heelan’s 314. The Bulldogs ended three strokes in front of Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Sioux City East.
“The guys came around the turn a little upset with their scores which were all low 40s,” Knapp said. “As they turned I told them that it was a difficult course to score on with the windy conditions, and shooting around 80 would be a great score. The top four all responded with better back 9s which ended up being big for us because of how close East and SBL were behind us.”
Le Mars did not use an 85 (42-43) from Tate Murphy or a 98 (50-48) from Isaac Tolzin towards their team score.
Knapp said the team is focused on continuing to improve in the final weeks of the season.
“We are really close to posting some very good scores,” Knapp said. “We are a full 20+ shots better than last year with an average of 322, but what’s great about this team is that they know we can do better and they are willing to put in the work at Willow every day. I am very excited to see what this team can do over the next three weeks.”
City tournament team scores: Bishop Heelan 314, Le Mars 322, Sioux City East 325, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 325, Sioux City North 343, Sioux City West 465.