MARSHALL - In its second meet of the season, the Marshall boys' golf team looks to be in familiar territory.
With three of their players finishing in the top five, including defending Class AA state champion Max Deutz winning medalist honors, the Marshall Black team shot a 299, beating their nearest competitor, New Ulm, by 22 strokes to win the Marshall Golf Class AA Invitational Saturday at the Marshall Golf Club.
Deutz shot a team-best 72, while Matt Bennett (73), Brent Haukom (76) and Marcus Holmberg (78) each carded rounds in the 70s, with Jacob Baker (81) and Alex Buysse (83) not far behind.
Article Photos
Photo by Joe Brown
Marshall senior Max Deutz chips out of the sand trap on hole No. 10 during a one-hole playoff against Fairmont’s Josh Baldus during Saturday’s Marshall Golf Class AA Invitational at the Marshall Golf Club. Deutz parred the hole to take medalist honors and help the Marshall Black team to a first-place finish.
That competition amongst the team was the strong point for last year's state runner-up. And with two meets done, Tigers head boys coach Allen Lucht is seeing the same kind of buildup for this season.
"I'd like to see all six score in the 70s later on," Lucht said. "These kids that are running in and out of the first team, we had the same thing happen to use last year, then it jelled all of a sudden.
"We want to jell later on in the season. ... It'll take a little time and hopefully, it'll happen sooner than last year."
Fact Box
Boys Team Results: 1. Marshall Black 299; 2. New Ulm 321; 3. Mankato West 335; 4. Marshall Orange 338; 5. Fairmont 340; 6. Mankato East 350; 7. Worthington 351.
Top 5 Individuals: 1. Max Deutz (Marshall Black) 72; 2. Josh Baldus (Fairmont) 72; 3. Matt Bennett (Marshall Black) 73; 4. Brent Haukom (Marshall Black) 76; 5. Ethan Kraus (New Ulm) 77.
Marshall Black Individual Results: Matt Bennett 73, Max Deutz 72, Brent Haukom 76, Marcus Holmberg 78, Jacob Baker 81, Alex Buysse 83.
New Ulm Individual Results: Kelton Schmitz 78, Josh Cooper 85, Jonah Cooper 82, Ethan Kraus 77, Matt Saffert 89, Peder Johnson 84.
Mankato West Individual Results: Gault Goettl 80, Matt Newman 84, Ryan Bernin 84, Taylor Sieberg 87, David Holib 90, Sam Blackman 89.
Marshall Orange Individual Results: Colin VanKeulen 83, Matt Christianson 87, Taylor Rasmussen 94, Jon Wyffels 84, Jordan Soehl 86, Will Gallagher 85.
Fairmont Individual Results: Josh Valdus 72, Dylan Post 85, Cole Huinker 96, Jacob Lijenquist 117, Joe Nordquist 87, Colton Cunning 122.
Mankato East Individual Results: Peter LeBeau 85, Nick Rockvam 88, Alex Zellmer 89, Chris Sadaka 93, Nick Yess 93, Sam Daufenbach 88.
Worthington Individual Results: Seth Meier 89, Jake Woll 85, Alex Kremer 84, Will Mulder 93, Zach Heidebrink 103, Jacob Weg 94.
Girls Team Results: 1. Mankato West 372; 2. Fairmont 378; 3. Mankato East 382; 4. Worthington 397; 5. Marshall 405; 6. New Ulm 457.
Top 5 Individuals: 1. Kate Lesnar (Worthington 83; 2. Holly McKissick (Mankato West) 86; 3. Megan Rosol (Fairmont) 91; 4. Aryel Boney (Mankato West) 91; 5. Maren Peterson (Mankato East) 91.
Mankato West Individual Results: Aryel Boney 91, Holly McKissick 86, Jordan Arbo 101, Emily Smith 94, Kendra Allen 104, Lindsay Nelson 121.
Fairmont Individual Results: Lizzie Larson 95, Megan Rosol 91, Cayce Craig 95, Emily Splinter 97.
Mankato East Individual Results: Jean Smith 93, Maren Peterson 91, Caylin Steinberg 103, Caitlin Clause 98, Rachel LeBeau 100, Emily Stengel 124.
Worthington Individual Results: Kate Lesnar 83, Mariah Haffield 97, Morgan Harberts 102, Tyree Murray 111, Becca Christensen 123.
Marshall Individual Results: Hanna Peterson 97, Allie Pogatchinik 100, Kirsten Webskowski 105, Sarah Vogl 103, Hanna Pfeiffer 110, Lizzie Archbold 122.
New Ulm Individual Results: Corinne McKeeth 92, Tasha Holm 130, Kendra Clyne 121, Miriam Jakel 114, Sydney Byro 136.
After a tough outing on Tuesday's meet, Deutz shot a 35 on the front 9 and 37 on the back, striking the ball well enough to end 18 holes in a tie with Fairmont's Josh Baldus. In a one-hole playoff on No. 10, both golfers hit into bunkers, with Deutz getting the better lie in the sand.
"Josh got a bad lie, he got plugged there," Deutz said. "I got closer, too, so I was fortunate."
From there, Deutz chipped close to the hole and tapped in a putt for a par and the first-place finish.
"I hit the ball great all day, but I had some trouble putting," Deutz said. "I hung in there and everything kind of stuck around even when things got rough. I got some birdies at the end that got me back to even-keel."
Even more importantly for both Deutz and Lucht was the team finish.
"Tuesday, we had some trouble, myself included, and we had some scores that were a little high," Deutz said, "but (Saturday), we shot 299, which was really nice.
"I know we can improve on that even more. We'll keep pushing up that hill."
For the Marshall girls, the team finished in fifth place with a team score of 405. While not as low as their score from Monday, it was a telling meet for the Tigers, who were without two of their varsity golfers. Jessica Blanchard missed Saturday's meet for speech, while junior Laura Mitlyng was taking the ACT.
Bumping up some golfers to the varsity for Saturday, Marshall girls coach Nancy Blanchard was encouraged seeing the rest of the team step up to the challenge.
"Overall, we're pretty pleased," Blanchard said. "That's not bad for this early in the season. Hopefully, we can knock a few strokes off as we continue to play."
Taking the girls' team title was Mankato West with a 372, narrowly beating Fairmont by six strokes. Worthington's Kate Lesnar was the medalist with an 83, beating out Mankato West's Holly McKissick's 86.
Bumped up to the No. 1 spot in Jessica Blanchard's absence, Hanna Peterson carded the low score for Marshall with a 97. Allie Pogatchinik followed with 100.
While there may have been nerves with the lineup getting moved around, the big key for Nancy Blanchard was making sure the girls played their game instead of trying to keep up with their respective groups.
"We talk about playing your own game, which kind of sounds clich ... You just have to do what you do well and not worry about how other people look when they're playing," Blanchard said.
Today, the Tiger boys and girls are back on the links, traveling to New Ulm.