The Prescott Cardinals played a pair of rounds last week, taking second at Pheasant Hills Golf Course on Monday and then taking first on Thursday in the Middle Border Conference finals at Princeton Valley Golf Course.

It was a great week of golf for Prescott who had top performances throughout.

While Monday’s round wasn’t quite as good as Thursday’s, the Cardinals did enough to take home a second-place tie. Tyler Reiter led the team as he usually does, shooting a 40, which he usually doesn’t. Reiter’s two bogeys and one double bogey are uncharacteristic of Prescott’s number one, but the rest of the guys chipped in and they walked away with second place, nine strokes behind Amery.

Luke Kinneman shot a 43 from the #3 spot, while #5 shooter Miles Malm came in third with a 44. Sam Vesperman and Harris Linderholm came in just behind with a pair of 46’s on the day.

While Monday’s round was only nine holes, Thursday’s was a full 18. Reiter took home first place overall in this one, shooting a 77. He limited damage overall, with seven pars and two bogeys on the front followed by six pars and three bogeys on the back.

The team’s #2 Vesperman came in second with an 82, and Kinneman and Linderholm each shot an 84 to round out the scoring for the red birds as they took home a six-stroke victory over second place Amery.

With the season over, the Cardinals will look towards making a run to the state tournament. The postseason tees off for Middle Border varsity golfers on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Pheasant Hills where teams and individuals will compete to advance to the sectional round of play.

River Falls

The River Falls Wildcats played in three events last week, taking first place at home on Monday at River Falls Golf Course, then falling to sixth at Mill Run Golf Course on Tuesday before finally finishing at fourth in the Big Rivers Conference Tournament at Whitetail Golf Course on Thursday.

There was wide range of outcomes for the Wildcats, unsurprisingly taking first place on their home turf, then turning in an unusually high score on Tuesday but rebounding to finish in the middle of the pack at the end of the week.

The interesting part about Monday’s win is that River Falls’ top golfer Ryan Swanson actually finished tied for third on the team as #2 Will Benedict stepped up and shot a -1, and #3 Connor O’Malley took home second with a 38. Daniel Linn finished out the scoring by shooting a 40 from the three-hole, but all five guys put up good scores with #4 shooter Archimedes Xiong turning in a 41 on the day.

Benedict was almost flawless, with his only hiccup coming from a bogey on the second hole which was actually hole 10 for those of you familiar with the course. He rebounded quickly though, putting up an eagle on the following par five and then putting up six straight pars to finish -1.

The guys took a step back collectively at Mill Run on Tuesday, with nearly identical scores down the line as well. Xiong’s 40 led the team while Swanson and Benedict tied at 41 and O’Malley’s 43 and Linn’s 44 finishing out the scoring.

Thursday’s Big River’s Conference Tournament went well but not great for the Wildcats. Swanson (77), Benedict (79) and O’Malley (78) all finished in the top 13 players. Xiong and Linn each finished in the top 25 as well, shooting identical 84 scores, but it wasn’t enough to carry River Falls to a top finish this time out.

Up next for the Wildcats is the first round of postseason play, and really, this is what it’s all about for athletes. They begin their pursuit of a state championship, either as a team or as individuals, this Wednesday with an 18-hole round at New Richmond Golf Course at 9 a.m.

Ellsworth

The Ellsworth Panthers played in a pair of varsity meets on Monday last week, taking seventh in round one at Hammond Golf Club and sixth in round two at Pheasant Hills, and they finished up the season on Thursday by taking seventh in the Middle Border Conference Championship round at Princeton Valley Golf Course in Eau Claire.

The final scores for Ellsworth in Monday’s first round were a dichotomy. Panthers’ top shooter Trey Wittenberg’s round was sort of a mixed bag with three bogey’s, one double-bogey and two birdies, going +3 and taking second place with a final score of 39. The other four guys all finished with almost the exact same score, with Cooper Olson finishing with a 49 and Thomas Tober, Rowan Nelson and Logan Peterson all shooting a 51.

Round two at Pheasant Hills wasn’t as good as they would’ve liked but considering it’s the site of the 2024 WIAA Regionals this Wednesday, it’s good to get the hiccups out of the way beforehand.

Olson finished even on the day, leading the team in score by a fair margin. Shooting out of the #3 spot, Olson got into trouble early by double-bogeying Hole 1. He rallied quickly to birdie the par 5 Hole 2, and then put up five straight pars before birdying Hole 8 and finishing the round even on the day.

Wittenberg, who won an 18-hole event here last week, finished a few strokes higher than he normally does, shooting a 40. The 2, 4 and 5 players - Tober, Nelson and Peterson - all finished within a couple strokes of each other once again with a 54, 53 and 57, respectively.

Recent trends continued in the season’s final round at Princeton Valley with #1 Wittenberg and #3 Olson pacing the team in scoring. Wittenberg’s 81 earned him a top five finish on the day, playing a very clean round and limiting extra strokes with just one double-bogey and baker’s handful of bogeys. Olson finished with an 87, Tober with a 92, Nelson with a 96 and Peterson rounded out the scoring with an even 100.

Up next for Ellsworth is the aforementioned regional round of postseason play, which will be held at Pheasant Hills at 9 a.m. Wednesday.