Last Tuesday, the Bluejay golfers traveled for their season opener at Wisconsin Rapids for a triangular meet against Rapids and Wausau West.
The Bluejays are a young squad still working as a team to fill the fifth man varsity position so coach Joe Mertens brought only four players to the difficult Ridges track.
At the event, Wausau West won with a team score of 318 led by Josh Yang’s 78, then Rapids with 356, and Merrill at 374. To lead the Bluejays and capture medalist honors was freshman standout golfer Russell Dettmering with a score of 37-37-74. Other Bluejay scores included sophmores Hunter Wallace with 40-44-84 and Mitchael Cammack (52-53-105), and freshman up and comer Carson Baguhn (54-57-111).
On Friday, the Bluejays traveled to Tomahawk for the Hatchet invitational. The Bluejays finished 4th of six teams with a 385 total as Dettmering led the team with a score of 45-35-80 and captured medalist honors for his second title in as many matches.
Other Bluejays scores included Wallace (41-44-85), Cammack (52-55-107) and Baguhn (54-59-113).
“Russell showed his grit and maturity at this event starting his round poorly with a couple big numbers on the front nine but them being the standout he is did not get down on himself, never quit, and put together a solid even par back nine to claim medalist honors,” Mertens noted. “Hunter continues to be a solid player and is showing more consistent play with his irons and short game and is optimistic for improved scoring. “Mitchael and Carson need more time and are starting to find out what areas to practice in order to start scoring better,” Mertens added. “As coach I anticipate that both of them will start showing improved scoring soon. Mitchael and Carson are capable golfers, able to hit the ball far but consistent ball striking and short game are lacking but trending in the right direction.
Beyond the four varsity players, other Bluejay golfers are starting to vie for that open fifth man varsity spot.
”Freshman Daniel Pepke is new to golf this year but his athletic talent is showing that he can learn the game quickly,” Mertens said. “Dan is showing promise as his skills are starting to show potential for varsity golf.
“The following players of Nick Roman, Riley Schotz, Alex Vosburgh, Gary Hoffman and Michael Kasper round out our JV squad and are showing improvement as well.”
The Bluejays competed in the Wausau City Meet on Tuesday, April 25; Thursday at the Lake Arrowhead Invitational; and Friday at Pine Valley Golf course for the first of seven valley conference matches.