Card boys' golf: Alexandria fourth at St. Cloud Invitational

• Blank

The Cardinals’ Kyle Blank watched his putt during the Alexandria Invite earlier this spring. Blank shot an 87 to help Alexandria finish fourth at the St. Cloud Invite last week. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

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The Alexandria boys’ golf team battled a strong field and came away with a fourth-place finish at the St. Cloud Invite last Thursday.

The Cardinals used two top-five finishes to shoot a team score of 321. Staples-Motley led the field with a 311, while Marshall (314) and Rogers (320) rounded out the top three.

“It was a warm but windy day for the invite,” head coach Rick Larson said. “St. Cloud Country Club is a very well kept course with many challenges. The wind just added to it. I was happy with our fourth place finish in a meet with many of the better teams in it.”

Senior Austin McCulloch finished just one stroke off medalist honors. He came in second with a 75 after birdying four of his last eight holes. Lukas Bigger wasn’t far behind as he continued to fire rounds in the 70s with a 78 that was good for fifth-place individually.

Senior Nick Brundell and Kyle Blank rounded out the Cardinal scorers. Brundell shot an 81, while Blank battled through a quadruple bogey and four doubles to shoot an 87.

Alexandria will head to the Melrose Invite tomorrow, Thursday, to take part in a meet at the GreyStone Golf Course, the same site of the Section meet that runs June 4-5.

ST. CLOUD INVITE

TEAM RESULTS – 1. Staples-Motley – 311; 2. Marshall – 314; 3. Rogers – 320; 4. Alexandria – 321; St. Cloud Tech – 321; 6. Eagan – 322; 7. Brainerd – 326; 8. Willmar – 327; 9. Sartell – 332; 10. Buffalo – 333; 11. Moorhead – 336; 12. Monticello – 341; 13. Pequot Lakes – 344; 14. Mayer Lutheran – 352; 15. Rocori – 353; 16. Becker – 357; 17. St. Cloud Apollo – 368; 18. Sauk Rapids – 380

ALEXANDRIA RESULTS – McCulloch – second place, 75; Bigger – fifth place, 78; Brundell – 81; Blank – 87; Brady Hafdal – 88; Nic Hanson – 92

ALEX JV TOPS

A group of junior varsity players got their feet wet in a varsity meet at the first-ever Lake Miltona Golf Club Invite on Saturday.

Alexandria took on local teams from Osakis, Sauk Centre and Melrose as the Cardinals won the meet with a team score of 351. Osakis was second at 377, while Sauk Centre (399) and Melrose (401) rounded out the field.

“Many of the players were JV so this was good experience for them and gives them a feel of what to expect in coming years,” Cardinals’ head coach Rick Larson said.

Sophomore Brady Bast made the most of the opportunity. He shot an 82 to win medalist honors.

“Brady has quite a bit of JV experience and playing nine-hole meets so his 82 was an excellent score for this 18-hole event,” Larson said. “He will be moving up to varsity next season.”

Senior Casey Chermak was not far behind. He shot his best round as an Alexandria golfer with an 84 that helped him finish second individually. Freshman Ryan Marciniak tied for third with a 91 and Brett Lund rounded out the Alexandria scorers with a 94 (fifth place).

“All in all, it was a great experience for the players with the younger players getting a taste of varsity golf,” Larson said. “It was good to see many parents out to watch.”

LAKE MILTONA INVITE

TEAM SCORES – 1. Alexandria – 351; 2. Osakis – 377; 3. Sauk Centre – 399; 4. Melrose – 401

ALEXANDRIA SCORES – Bast – medalist, 82; Chermak – second place, 84; Marciniak – t-third, 91; Lund – T-fifth place, 94; Garrett Forbrook – T-ninth place, 98; Devin Brundell – 16th place, 100

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