Card boys' golf: Alexandria third at Fergus Falls, second at Pre-section

• McCulloch

Alexandria’s Austin McCulloch watched his ball fly down the fairway during the Alexandria Invite earlier this season. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

Talk about it

Led by Austin McCulloch’s third place 73, the Cardinal boys golfed to third in the Central Lakes Conference meet at Fergus Falls Thursday.

“It was perfect weather for a golf meet and the scores definitely showed it,” said Alexandria head coach Rick Larson. “Fergus came into the meet holding a one-point advantage over Brainerd and a two-point advantage over Alex. They did what the home team needs to do and shot the best CLC team scores of the season (305).

“Fergus now holds a commanding lead in the CLC with the way we do scoring. Four points doesn’t seem like a lot, but for Alex to catch them, we would virtually have to finish first in the three remaining meets. The good news – we are still capable of doing that. We just need all our players to come together on the same day as the meets, which we haven’t done yet.”

McCulloch, a senior, did find his stroke on Thursday, posting his best career score in a varsity meet.

“He shot 2-under on the front and 3-over on the back,” said Larson. “Great scoring.”

McCulloch was followed by Nick Brundell, who fired a round of 77, and Lukas Bigger with an 83.

“Nick continues to flirt with very low numbers and is just about there,” said his coach. “He had a great round going until he hit one errant shot on the next to last hole that cost him a quad bogey, going from 1-over-par through 16 holes and ending up 5-over.

“Lukas struggled with his putter on his first nine holes, but was able to play a little better on the back.”

Tanner Gustafson and Brady Hafdal turned in 85s and Nic Hanson rounded out the team scoring with a 90.

“Tanner’s round was the tale of two different nines,” Larson said, “scoring a 38 on the front and a 47 on the back, but he did grind it out ‘til the end.

“Brady scored better today with a brand new putter, which definitely helped his putting, but he had trouble off the tee.

“Nic, seeing his first varsity CLC meet action, just plain never got into the rhythm and was glad to see his round end.”

The Cardinals were at the 8AAA pre-section meet Saturday and were at Rocori Monday.

They will be hosting the Alexandria Invitational at the Alexandria Golf Club on Monday, May 14.

CENTRAL LAKES CONFERENCE BOYS’ GOLF AT FERGUS FALLS

TEAM SCORES – 1. Fergus Falls 305, 2. St. Cloud Tech 312, 3. Alexandria 318, 4. Willmar 321, 5. Brainerd 322, 6. Sartell 331, 7. Sauk Rapids 333, 8. Rocori 347, 9. St. Cloud Apollo 365.

MEDALIST – Chris Swenson, FF, 71.

ALEXANDRIA SCORES – Austin McCulloch 73, Nick Brundell 77, Lukas Bigger 83, Tanner Gustafson 85, Brady Hafdal 85, Nic Hanson 90.

STANDINGS AFTER 3 MEETS – Fergus Falls 26, Alexandria 22, Brainerd 21, St. Cloud Tech 19, Willmar 17, Sartell 12, Sauk Rapids 9, Rocori 6, St. Cloud Apollo 3.

PRE-SECTION MEET

Many of the teams will have a different look to them come tournament time, but the Alexandria boys’ golf team and the rest of the 8AAA field got a feel for the course at the GreyStone Golf Club at the pre-section tournament this past weekend.

The Cardinals fired a team score of 311 to finish in second place. Brainerd took the tournament with a 307, while Bemidji and St. Cloud Tech each shot a 324.

“It is as much a practice as anything else and several teams were missing players due to proms,” head coach Rick Larson said. “So the team scoring is a little skewed.”

Section favorite Moorhead sent its No. 2 team to the pre-section tournament as its top team finished off a two-day meet in Fargo. The Spuds second team shot a 346 and will look a lot different when the teams tee off in the section meet later this spring.

Alexandria put together some solid scores with three players in the 70s. Nick Brundell was the tournament medalist after carding an even-par 72. He had five birdies and five bogeys with the rest of his round all pars.

“His game continues to get better and steadier,” Larson said. “Austin McCulloch had one of those days where birdies were not to be but many pars and a few bogeys, and he ground out a good score. Lukas Bigger had one double and played well, scoring in the 70s. Brady Hafdal continues to learn about his new long putter and putted well for the fourth score we counted.”

McCulloch shot a 78 as the second-leading scorer for Alexandria. Bigger wasn’t far behind at 79, while Hafdal carded an 82. Kyle Blank and Tanner Gustafson rounded out the Alexandria lineup with an 87 and 91, respectively.

8AAA PRE-SECTION MEET

TEAM SCORES – 1. Brainerd – 307; 2. Alexandria – 311; 3. Bemidji – 324; St. Cloud Tech – 324; 5. Willmar – 327; 6. Buffalo – 332; 7. Sartell – 333; 8. Sauk Rapids – 335; 9. Moorhead – 346; St. Cloud Apollo – 346; 11. Monticello – 351

ALEXANDRIA SCORES – Brundell – medalist, 72; McCulloch – 78; Bigger – 79; Hafdal – 82; Blank – 87; Gustafson – 91

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, boys, golf