PIRATE BOYS GOLF TEAM FINISHES 9TH AT BEMIDJI TOWN AND COUNTRY

The Crookston Pirate Boys Golf team was in 14th place out of 14 teams going into the final six holes and they finished strong as they ended up finishing 9th with a team score of 379 at the Section 8 Preview Invite played at the Bemidji Town and Country Club.  The defending Section 8A and Class A state champion Fertile-Beltrami Falcons won the meet with an impressive 321, 14 strokes better than Hawley.  “We were a few strokes better than Wednesday so that was good to see,” said Pirate Coach Steve Kofoed. “We are out playing and the guys are happy to get rounds in this week.”

Brannon Tangquist had a big improvement from the first round to today as he shaved 8 strokes off his score for a 93.  Tangquist had five pars and seven bogies to lead his round. “Brannon was solid today and went through the first 10 to 12 holes without a hiccup,” said Pirate Coach Steve Kofoed. “He was a little disappointed with a few three putts late for double bogies, but it was a pretty good score and a nice improvement from Wednesday.”  Tangquist finished 30th individually.

Ashton Shockman also showed big improvement from the first to second round as he turned in a 94, which was 23 strokes better than his first round of the year!  Ashton had three pars and eight bogies.  Shockman cut down on the big numbers this round and didn’t have anything over a double bogey to shave the 23 strokes. “Ashton got off to a horrendous start on Wednesday and couldn’t recover mentally.  Today he got off to a great start and he had a par, strung together a few bogies and had two or three pars in a row,” said Coach Kofoed. “Very happy with the way he golfed today and this is where we expect him to be.”  Shockman finished 33rd individually.

Garrett Fischer had another solid round as he recorded the first Pirate Eagle of the season when he scored a three on the 499-yard par-five 10th hole.  Fischer also added a birdie on the par-four 354-yard 17th hole. He also had three pars and six bogies on the day on his way to a 95. “He hit some nice shots and had some bad breaks too,” said Coach Kofoed. “He hits enough shots where he can put a string of nice holes together and he was able to hole out from about 60 yards away for a birdie and obviously hit some nice shots today.”

Connor Maruska was close to his first-round score with a 98 today.  He had another solid round with two pars and nine bogies to lead his round.  He was just two strokes off his first-round score and wrapped up four Pirates being in the 90’s for the second straight meet. “He was very similar to the round on Wednesday,” said Coach Kofoed. “Having a 98 in his first time at Town and Country Club is a solid round.  He was consistent and that was good to see.”

Gavin Winger had a decent front nine going 11 over par, but the back nine caused some problems as he put up a few big numbers and finished with a 54 for a total of 101. “Gavin had a good round,” said Coach Kofoed. “He tripled his last hole so instead of being in at 98 or 99 he went over 100, but overall had a good round.”

Hunter Nicholas recorded a birdie when he only needed two strokes on the par-three 14th hole at 171 yards. He also had three pars and six bogies.  Hunter struggled on the 18th hole where he recorded an 11 on a par four, but that was the only big number he had on the day. “Hunter said he wishes he could have three holes back,” said Coach Kofoed. “It is nice to know he knows what he has to do and we will see when we come back on Monday.”