The Bluejay golf season appeared to be over after Tuesday’s WIAA Merrill Regional, despite the fact that Merrill freshman Michael Pagel had played well, scoring a 41-43-84.
But Pagel received some belated good news, he had qualified for Tuesday’s WIAA D.C. Everest Sectional after the disqualification of two golfers from Wausau West. The Warriors dropped out of the team competition and with replacement Rhinelander having three individuals to West’s two, an extra spot opened up.
“Michael played very good golf for 14 of the 18 holes,” MHS coach Paul Strand said. “He is getting much better at course management and this is leading to his more consistent scoring. He, however, is still not satisfied with his play due to the high numbers on a few holes. The desire to really improve his overall game will lead him to much success in his high school career.
“I believe he is the first freshman that I have coached that qualified individually for sectional competition. Greenwood Hills, the site of the sectional, will pose a challenge for all golfers and I look for him to continue his improvement.”
Jared Hoffmann and Coty Guenther each shot a 42-47-89, and Evan Connor (47-45-92) and Adam Yirkovsky (48-46-94) topped off Merrill’s sixth-place finish.
“Both Jared and Coty put together solid front nines which set them up nicely for the back nine,” Strand said. “They both had some trouble on the first 3 holes of the back and never got into the good rhythm that is needed to shoot lower scores. I see much greater confidence in both of them at the end of their seasons. This should suit them well next year in competition.”
“Adam and Evan just could not get a steady flow to their games. Every time they started to get a string of well-played holes,a hole would jump up and really hurt them. This makes it very difficult to take confident swings on every shot. Next year, Evan will be our returning senior leader so I am looking for him to step up his game with more of the great shots he does hit during a round.
“Adam finished a great 4 years for us on a note that I know disappointed him. However, for me, Adam was the type of athlete you want on a team. His attitude, maturity, and leadership will be missed next year.”
Team standings-D.C. Everest 324, Wausau East 326, Antigo 329, Rhinelander 334, Marshfield 343, Merrill 354, Lakeland 395, Wausau West DQ.
Pagel’s sectional round will be covered in next week’s issue.