BUFFALO LAKE — Through day one at the boys 3AA Section Tournament, Luke Ehlers is the driving force behind the Marshall golf team. The sophomore finished the front nine at even-par to put himself in third place in the 96-player field while the Tigers are tied for second out of 16 teams.

Ehlers finished the day with a 3-over 75, putting him one stroke back of second-place Owen Sudenga of Luverne. Morris Area-Chokio Alberta’s Charlie Hanson leads the field with a 2-under 70.

While he put together a great performance from front to back, his first nine holes were particularly impressive. He had three birdies on the front nine and didn’t have a hole the entire round more than one stroke over par.

“The biggest part for Luke’s round today was having three birdies on the front nine,” Marshall head coach Kari Ehlers said. “When you have a birdie train going, it doesn’t make those bogeys hurt so badly.”

Despite the sunny skies, the weather conditions remained less than ideal. The golfers played through 20-mile-per-hour winds and dried-out greens made for fast putts, coach Ehlers said. Still, the Tigers kept their composure to put together a team score of 324.

“I think the boys did a nice job with mentally staying with the program today and giving themselves a chance to score some really good pars,” coach Ehlers said. “We all know in golf that a couple of bad hits in a hole still leaves you the opportunity to get up and down on a hole for a par.”

The Tigers’ score puts them in a tie with Luverne. New London-Spicer holds onto first after day one at 315 while Minnewaska Area and Windom Area sit just behind the Tigers, tied at 330.

Marshall was far from a one-man team, however. Jayden Manthei and Joey Fossum both put together top-15 performances in the round.

Manthei sits in a tie for 11th with New London-Spicer’s Gabe Truscinski, West Central Area’s Marshall Dewey and Pipestone Area’s Will DeBates with an 81. After an up-and-down first six holes, in which he had a birdie but also a triple bogey, a double bogey, and three bogeys, Manthei settled down for the rest of the match. He rattled off seven consecutive pars after his hole-six triple bogey and only had two holes over par for the rest of the match.

With the top five players in the section, excluding players on the team champion, going to states, Manthei currently sits just outside the window to qualify as an individual. Two of the 10 players ahead of him compete for NLS, so if New London-Spicer remains in first after day two, a good day could still lead Manthei to leapfrog three players and advance to the state tournament.

Joey Fossum shot an 82 for Marshall to tie for 15th place with Fairmont’s Brock Lutterman and Minnewaska Area’s Zach Gugisberg. While he had a few holes that got away from him, he made up for it with four birdies on the day.

“I know a couple of our guys felt like they left a couple of shots out there,” coach Ehlers said. “We had a couple of guys that had shots that went in the water, had a couple of out-of-bounds shots. Those are the things that are really important… Every shot counts and that’s what the coaches try to tell the kids.”

Even without individually qualifying, the Tigers still have a chance to qualify as a team, according to Kari Ehlers.

“We just have to keep our emotions in check,” coach Ehlers said. “We have to remind ourselves that we are fully capable of having four scorers in the 70s. I truly believe that if we get four of our players in the 70s, we have a really great shot at qualifying as a team for the state tournament.”

Nine players in Thursday’s field shot a 79 or better.

Sam Schwarz rounded out the Marshall scorers with an 86 on the day. While he didn’t have any birdies, he showed some consistency, particularly on the back nine. He finished with a par on four of his last five holes.

The second day of the boys 3AA Section Tournament will be held at Oakdale Golf Club on Wednesday at 9 a.m.

“The biggest thing our team needs to remember as a whole is that we need to eliminate the large holes,” Ehlers said of the team’s focus for day two. “We have to eliminate the double and triple bogeys. We also have to make sure our putting is top-notch. These greens are fast… if you putt the ball and if you read it just a little bit off, it can just kind of fall away from you.”