Park boys golf: Wolfpack shoot season-best 324 in Hastings invite

The Park boys golf team played 36 holes in a pair of tournaments last Monday and came away with its best round of the year.

Park tied for third place with Roseville and Woodbury with a 324 in the nine-team Don Saatzer Invitational on Monday at Hastings Country Club. Hastings won its own invite with a 306, edging Burnsville (313).

“It was great to see our team post our best score of the year at a difficult golf course,” Park head coach Chad Salay said. “It was also our highest finish in any event this year. A lot of the hard work that these guys are putting in is starting to show and they see it as well.”

Individually for the Wolfpack, junior Chris Peterson and senior Nick Cekalla led the way with matching 79s on the par-72 course. Also, sophomore Cole LeMay shot an 81 and seniors Garrett Mahigan and Jeff Martin each shot 85 to round out the Wolfpack’s top four scorers.

Burnsville’s Evan Munyon earned medalist honors with a 71.

Park shot its season-best even without one of the team’s best golfers — sophomore Alex Holland — who suffered a mild wrist sprain when his club struck the lip of the bunker about half way through his round. “I felt bad for Alex, especially since he was playing in our No. 1 position, however, it was nice to see his teammates step up and post some low scores in his absence,” Salay said.

Just hours after the invite, Park traveled to Stillwater and competed in a Suburban East Conference tournament at Stillwater Country Club, scoring a 337 to take ninth place out of 10 teams. East Ridge won the match with a 318, edging Cretin-Derham Hall (319) and Hastings (321).

Peterson again led the way for the Wolfpack with a 79, followed by sophomore Pat McCarthy, who shot an 80. Martin (88) and LeMay (90) rounded out the Wolfpack’s top four.

Stillwater’s Sammy Sicard and Bennett Anderson tied for medalist honors along with Forest Lake’s Max Kelly and Mounds View’s Ryan Parise, who each shot 76.

Salay said the 36 holes of golf in one day was a “good learning experience,” especially for those who want to play college golf where it is common to play two rounds in a day.

“It was unfortunate that we couldn’t keep the momentum of our morning round going into the afternoon match, but I think the kids learned both physically and maybe more importantly mentally what it takes to play your best for 36 holes,” Salay said. “It is not something we practice due to time constraints and we rarely (if ever) have a situation where we have two matches in a day, so I wasn’t completely surprised our performance decreased in the second match.”

Next, Park gears up for the Suburban East Conference Championship Tournament, which will be held Wednesday, May 23, at Keller Golf Course in St. Paul, by traveling to Duluth’s Northland Country Club for an invitational on Monday, May 21.

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