With the first Southwest Wisconsin Conference golf meet in the books, the defending champs from River Valley have taken an early lead in their quest to capture this year’s conference crown.
Last Friday evening, golf teams from the SWC got together at the Prairie du Chien Country Club, where the wind was blowing and making play difficult for some.
It didn’t affect the play of Lancaster sophomore Zach Hentrich much though, as he finished the event with a five-over-par round of 40, finishing third to Prairie’s Kris Graewin and River Valley’s Aaron Feiner, both of whom shared medalist honors with a 39.
As a team, Lancaster finished second to River Valley by four strokes, the Blackhawks shooting a 169, the Flying Arrows a 173.
Rounding out the varsity scores for Lancaster were senior Logan Thole with a 43, freshmen Andrew Gates and Nathan Farrey each with a 45, and junior John VanDeHey with a 46.
The following Saturday, the Lancaster varsity golfers participated in the Dick McKichan Invite at Platteville, where again the Arrows finished second as a team to River Valley.
The Blackhawks shot a team score of 327, which was 12 strokes better than the Arrows.
Hentrich earned division 1 medalist honors with his three-over-par round of 75.
VanDeHey came in with an 82, Farrey an 88 and Gates with a 94, while Thole’s 95 did not count toward the team score.
This Thursday evening the Lancaster boys’ golf team will travel to Richland Center, then will host the other SWC schools on Monday, April 23.
SWC Meet
(from Friday, April 13, at the Prairie du Chien Country Club, par 35)
Team scores - 1. River Valley 169; 2. Lancaster 173; 3. Prairie du Chien 174; 4. Dodgeville 177; 5. Platteville 181; 6. Richland Center 295.
Medalist - Kris Graewin (PdC) 39, Aaron Feiner (RV) 39.
River Valley - Aaron Feiner 39, Nate Achterberg 41, Robb Gust 43, Graham Westley 46, Alex Wedige 46.
Lancaster - Zach Hentrich 40, Logan Thole 43, Andrew Gates 45, Nathan Farrey 45, John VanDeHey 46.
Prairie du Chien - Kris Graewin 39, John David 45, Dan Adamany 45, Nate Stram 45, Cole Pattison 57.
Dodgeville - Nate Hottmann 43, Steven Stadler 44, Michael Digman 45, Kory Beerhircher 45, Steven Brokish 50.
Platteville - Parker Wilken 44, Josh Beck 45, Quincy Pick 45, Alex Iverson 47, Clayton Stranton 49.
Richland Center - Adam Mortimer 45, Colton Barto 52.
J.V. - 1. River Valley 175; 2. (tie) Lancaster 202, Dodgeville 202; 4. Platteville 219; PdC inc.
Dick McKichan Invitational
(from Saturday, April 14, at the Platteville Country Club, par 72)
Division 1
Team scores - 1. River Valley 327; 2. Lancaster 339; 3. Platteville 352; 4. Dodgeville 378; 5. Prairie du Chien 384.
Medalist - Zach Hentrich (L) 75.
River Valley - Westley 79, Wedige 80, Feiner 82, Achterberg 86.
Lancaster - Zach Hentrich 75, John VanDeHey 82, Nathan Farrey 88, Andrew Gates 94.
Platteville - Parker Wilken 80, Quncey Pick 83, Josh Beck 94, Alex Iverson 95.
Dodgeville - Stadler 91, Digman 95, Brokis 96, Hottmann 96
Prairie du Chien - Kris Graewin 80, Dan Adamany 90, Nate Stram 96, Ben Smethhurst 118.
Richland Center - Mortimer 87.
Division 2
Team scores - 1. Cuba City 334; 2. Southwestern 355; 3. Iowa-Grant 409; 4. Darlington 418; 5. Mineral Point 420; 6. Fennimore 467.
Medalist - Alex Stewart (CC) 73.
Cuba City - Alex Stewart 73, Dakota Thole 79, Drew Zimmerman 90, Cory Kaiser 92.
Southwestern - Josh Smith 76, Calub Heileman 90, Alex Schmieder 91, Devyn Bauer 98.
Iowa-Grant - Isaac Wienkes 96, Asa Burton 99, Clay Michek 106, Jordan Jenks 108.
Darlington - Zach McArthur 92, A.J. Brandt 104, Steven Cotter 109, Taylor Tiegs 113.
Mineral Point - Taylor Ryman 82, Bailey Bercet 99, Niko Hagen 116, Nate Cody 123.
Fennimore - Joe Heberlein 102, Spencer Novinskie 112, Jacob Vesperman 120, Elias Cox 133.
