Colby golf season ends in regional match

The Colby golf team wrapped up their season on Monday with their regional competition held at Glacier Woods Golf Club in Iola. The team took ninth place, putting up a team score of 475 on the par 71 course.

It was the first time that any member of the team had played at Glacier Woods, which made navigating a course full of challenges even more difficult. While the weather did not pose the same threat that it had in a number of other matches this season, there was plenty else to contend with.

“Deep fescue grass, narrow wooded fairways and unmarked hazards posed issues at times throughout their round,” head coach Brandon Butkus said of the course.

John Kaiser led the Hornets on the unfamiliar course. The senior put up a team-best score of 106 and was the team’s most consistent athlete of the day, especially over the back half of the course. Kaiser shot a 49 over the final nine holes, pushing him up to 30th overall in the regional.

Kaden Wiese came in second for the Hornets, placing 32nd overall with a score of 109. He was Colby’s best golfer over the front nine, scoring a 52 in the first half of the course. While he put up solid numbers throughout the course, a few holes proved problematic and resulted in a slightly elevated score.

Tucker Brost took 42nd overall with a score of 126 and Zander Engel placed 47th with a score of 134. After a tough opening, Brost settled in over the latter parts of the course, putting up a 56 over the final nine holes. Meanwhile Engel had a solid middle portion of the course.

“Everyone played better than they have over the season but it wasn’t enough to get ahead of the competition,” Butkus said. “It was great to see a lot of improvement in each golfer.”

With their relatively smaller numbers, the Hornets largely had to rely on just four golfers to post for their varsity team throughout the season, which posed its own set of challenges and experiences for the team. However, they seemed to come out the better for those experiences.

There will be some question marks heading into next season for the club, as three of their four varsity starters will be graduating. Only Engel will have the opporutnity to compete next year.