DARLINGTON – Despite a strong, late-season push on the links, the Darlington Redbirds boys’ golf team couldn’t move out of their third-place position in the final SWAL standings.
Darlington has been nestled in third-place in the overall SWAL standings the entire season behind runner-up Southwestern, but the Redbirds had a chance to jump ahead of the Wildcats at the conference meet following last week’s final regular season match when the ‘Birds placed second and the ‘Cats came in fourth.
Darlington took care of their own business by finishing second at the SWAL Conference Meet held at the House on the Rock Resort on Tuesday, May 15, however Southwestern placed third at the meet to hold off the Redbirds by a point in the final standings.
“I’m very proud of them for taking third in the conference standings and, aside from finishing fourth in a couple of meets by a stroke or two, we were only one point out of second. Overall, I would consider it a success,” said Darlington coach Dave Jacobson.
Cuba City rolled to the team title by 33 strokes with their winning score of 336 at Tuesday’s conference meet to claim the overall SWAL championship for the third year in a row with a perfect final score of 72 points for the season.
The ‘Birds were second on the day with a 369 and the Wildcats were third at 371, however the ‘Cats wound up second in the final standings with 57 points and the ‘Birds ended up with 56.
“I thought the guys held up well on a very difficult course. It’s not every day they play on a course with so much water and sand, not to mention greens with such size and undulation. If you look at the scores, we were the only team other than Cuba City who were able to post four scores under 100, so it was a team effort,” Jacobson stated.
Iowa-Grant was fourth on Tuesday with a 380, followed by Mineral Point (384), Argyle/Pecatonica (402), Fennimore (439) and Barneveld (442).
Darlington junior Alex Schulte finished seventh overall individually with a round of 86. Senior Zach McArthur tied for eighth overall with a 90, while sophomore A.J. Brandt carded a 95 and junior Chase Tuescher shot a 98 to round out the team scoring for the Redbirds.
“Alex rebounded nicely from a front nine 46 with a 40 on the back to finish seventh overall, and Zach’s round included eight lip-outs on the greens, so he could have finished even lower had a few of them gone in,” noted Jacobson
Southwestern senior Josh Smith captured medalist honors at the meet with a one-over 73.
Regionals began on Tuesday morning for the Redbirds and got over too late for the results to appear in this week’s paper.
The top four teams and top four individuals not members of those teams qualify for sectional competition, which will be held at the Edelweiss Chalet Country Club in New Glarus on Tuesday, May 29, beginning at 9 a.m.
2012 SWAL CONFERENCE MEET
Team scores: Cuba City 336, Darlington 369, Southwestern 371, Iowa-Grant 380, Mineral Point 384, Argyle/Pecatonica 402, Fennimore 439, Barneveld 442.
Final SWAL standings: Cuba City 72 points, Southwestern 57, Darlington 56, Mineral Point 46, Iowa-Grant 35, Argyle/Pecatonica 31, Fennimore 17, Barneveld 10.
Conference Meet Medalist: Smith, S, 73.
Darlington Scores: Alex Schulte 86, Zach McArthur 90, A.J. Brandt 95, Chase Tuescher 98.
At House on the Rock GC, par 72
Darlington golfers finish third in SWAL

