Greenwood Hills presents a formidable challenge at any time, but when the winds kick up the way they did in last Tuesday’s WIAA D.C. Everest Sectional, watch out.
Merrill freshman Michael Pagel, an individual qualifier for the meet, started well but ended up with a 52-43-95, to tie for 42nd.
“The scoring at the Sectional played at Greenwood Hills was fairly high partly due to the strong winds present,” MHS coach Paul Starnd said. “Michael’s score was higher than he hoped it would be, but still very respectable since he really did hit a lot of very high quality shots during the round.
“Michael started out his day very well, playing the first 3 holes in par, par, birdie. On the next two holes he hit shots that weren’t that bad but the difficulty of the holes and a couple of bad bounces off the cart path ended his streak of par or under play. From there on he had trouble with errant shots that the wind pushed into real trouble on a number of holes.”
Pagel has nowhere to go but up after his early shot at sectional competition.
“This experience is one that Michael, as a freshman, will gain a lot from for the future,” Strand said. “After the round we talked over strategy and he showed a real growth in understanding when you need to play each shot preparing to put the ball in a good position for the next shot. He realizes that this may mean playing safe and at the same time continuing to swing aggressively.
“Michael has very high goals for himself and now knows what he needs to improve on to reach those goals.”
Hudson undercut Superior 323-336 for the team title, and Eau Claire Memorial’s Nate Webb shot a 78 to edge Hudson’s Matt Grayes by a stroke for medalist honors.