The Alexandria boys golf team has had a competitive season by many team’s standards around the state, but this is a Cardinals program that prides itself on winning at a high level.
Wins have been hard to come by during stretches of this season in a tough Central Lakes Conference field that includes other good programs like Brainerd and Sartell. It takes a round in the low 300s to win most meets, and Alexandria did just that on back-to-back days May 17 and 18 in Brainerd to win the CLC championship tournament with a total score of 609.
“We have just struggled to put four scores together all year,” Alexandria head coach Brady Swedberg said. “Typically for us, if we can have four scores below 80, we will be in good shape. We had a few guys step up each day. Wyatt (Cavers) has struggled most of the year but came through on both Monday and Tuesday with 75 and 79. His 75 on Monday was extremely impressive after he started the day with three straight bogies. He could have easily packed it in, but he found a way to play the last 15 in even par.”
Cavers, a senior, finished sixth in the tournament, and two of his teammates were right in front of him. Sophomore Braeden Sladek shot a 147 (73, 74) to finish second behind Logan Hamak (71, 73 - 144) of Sartell. Freshman Bennett Olsen was Alexandria’s second scorer with a 151 (77, 74), while junior Andrew Swedberg (77, 80 - 157) finished eighth overall, senior Grant Rebrovich (81, 82 - 163) was 14th and freshman Jack Holtz (81, 85 - 166) tied for 19th.
Coach Swedberg said the up-and-down season so far shows this team’s youth, but he’s proud of how they came on to secure the CLC championship.
“Experience plays such a huge role,” Swedberg said. “All of these younger guys have a ton of upside, but not much experience. They are getting more and more comfortable with each tournament round they play.”
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That leaves the Cardinals excited to see what they can do now at the Section 8-3A meet at the Rich Spring Golf Course June 1 and 2.
“We will have almost two full weeks of practice to continue to tighten things up and get prepared for Rich Spring,” Swedberg said. “They all push each other. It’s a huge momentum game that can go either way in a hurry. Right now, my guys are trending in the right direction and the overall team confidence is higher than it’s been all year.”
CENTRAL LAKES CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP -- TEAM RESULTS - Alexandria - 302, 307 - 609; Brainerd - 310, 313 - 623; Sartell - 307, 323 - 630; Fergus Falls - 329, 330 - 659; St. Cloud Tech - 324, 342 - 666; Rocori - 330, 341 - 671; Bemidji - 337, 340 - 677; Willmar - 335, 358 - 693; Sauk Rapids - 343, 373 - 716
