By Andrew Harrington
MADISON — Prescott boys golf had its program-defining season come to an end Tuesday after closing out the State Tournament in seventh of eight teams. Senior Tyler Reiter capped his tremendous high school career off with a fifth-place finish individually.
“We were pretty much ready the first day. We started out kind of slow, but kept right with everyone,” Head Coach Scott Hamilton said. “Did what you had to do on the first day of a State Tournament, a two-day event like that. Keep yourself in striking distance.”
Hamilton said he noticed some nerves on the first day, but nothing outside of what is to be expected on the biggest stage. The Cardinals finished round one in a tie for third place with a 331 score, 10 strokes away from the leader Seymour.
Prescott started day two strong with four golfers scoring par on the first hole of the day to make up some ground. The Cardinals started to fade a bit, scoring a 344 to finish seventh at State.
“Big smiles by the end,” Hamilton said. “They were a little disappointed with how they played that second day… You get to the 18th hole and say this is the last tee shot you’ll ever have as a high school golfer, and you can kind of see a little of the watering in the eyes.”
Individually, senior Tyler Reiter capped off his historic career with a fifth-place finish.
“He really wanted to push closer to first, but had a couple bad holes here and there, got a little unlucky on a couple breaks. That’s golf right there,” Hamilton said. “He’s been the ultimate leader for us. Kind of that steady person at the top of the leaderboard.”
Reiter is a two-time Middle Border Conference golfer of the year, scoring a 75 and 77 over his two rounds at State. Reiter has been a major piece toward getting the team to state, displaying confidence, hard work and a willingness to teach his peers.
Joining Reiter were senior Luke Kinneman scoring a 165 to tie for 24th, senior Harris Linderholm taking 37th with a 175, senior Sam Vesperman taking 44th with a 183 and senior Beau Risdon tied for 49th with a 195.
“This team has meant a lot,” Hamilton said. “Even in the community, we’re starting to see more people be like, ‘Oh, it’s not just baseball here, we play some golf too.’”
With all five State competitors being seniors, Hamilton said next year’s team will need to be at the course practicing as much as possible if they want to reach the same heights next year. JV golfer Owen Bayer was also a senior. Sophomore Miles Malm and junior Cayden Johnson are two golfers Hamilton hopes can usher in the next generation of the team. There are also a few incoming freshmen the team is excited to welcome along with some of the current JV golfers.
“It’s going to take quite a bit,” Hamilton said. “When you don’t have that leader who’s sitting right around even par a lot, everyone has to kind of lock in and get to their best scores they possibly can.”
The target is going to be finding five golfers who can shoot around an 80. If they can do this, even without a golfer consistently putting up the State’s best scores, they will have a chance to go to Sectionals and beyond. First, Hamilton wants the golfers to get below bogey golf, then work their way down to 40 strokes per nine holes and below. Malm and Johnson are two who have already proven they can play below bogey golf.
If they can learn from the hard work of the senior class, Hamilton believes anything is possible.
Keywords
Prescott Cardinals,
boys golf,
WIAA State Tournament,
University Ridge,
Madison,
Wisconsin
