MARSHALL - With chilly 40-degree temperatures and with gusts of wind around 20 miles per hour, a little bit of warmth went a long way at the Marshall Golf Course on Tuesday.
In the Marshall Tiger Boys Invitational tournament, the Tigers' Matt Bennett got off to a slow start through hole No. 3, going bogey-par-double bogey.
At the sixth hole, Marshall head boys coach Allen Lucht came through in a big way for Bennett.
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Photo by Joe Brown
Marshall’s Brent Haukom tees off at the par-3 10th hole during Tuesday’s Marshall Tigers Invitational boys golf tournament at Marshall Golf Club. Haukom shot a 78, helping the Tigers to a first-place finish.
"On hole No. 6, I told him, 'Matt, your hands are real cold,' so I gave him my gloves," Lucht said.
"Being dressed properly and having the right equipment is what you want."
With his hands staying warm, soon, Bennett's putter started getting hot as he shot a tournament-low round of 74, taking medalist honors and helping the Marshall Black team to a first-place finish in the 17-team tournament.
Fact Box
Marshall Tiger Invitational
Team Results: 1. Marshall Black 318; 2. Benson 326; 3. Montevideo 327; 4. Marshall Orange 341; 5. Yellow Medicine East 351; 6. Dawson-Boyd 353; 7. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 354; 8. Ortonville 357; 9. Marshall White 370; 10. BOLD 375; 11. Lincoln HI 389; 12. Lakeview 406; 13. MACCRAY 375; 14. Canby 415; 15. Mountain Lake Christian 416; 16. Minneota 442; 17. Renville County West 495.
Top 5 Individuals: 1. Matt Bennett (Marshall Black) 74; 2. Sam Peterson (Benson) 75; 3. Hudson VanDrunen (RTR) 76; 4. Phillip Ward (Monte) 78; 5. Brent Haukom (Marshall Black) 78.
Marshall Black Individual Results: Max Deutz 82, Matt Bennett 74, Brent Haukom 78, Marcus Holmberg 85, Bo Erickson 84, Taylor Rasmussen 92.
Benson Individual Results: Sam Peterson 75, Jordan Burns 80, Zach Maurer 84, Brody Gimberlin 89, Ian Lee 93, Nathan Hawley 87.
Montevideo Individual Results: Phillip Ward 78, Tyler Sacharlason 89, Ryan Knudson 93, Grant Tufto 87, Mike Moritz 80, Derek Bruns 82.
Marshall Orange Individual Results: Jacob Baker 82, Alex Buysse 82, Matt Christianson 84, Will Gallagher 93, Jordan Soehl 96.
YME Individual Results: Mitch McCosh 81, Spencer McCosh 89, Jordan Zens 93, Charles Blue 88, Mason Frerichs 112, Sam Jans 94.
Dawson-Boyd Individual Results: Aaron Lange 99, Ryan Sumner 83, Easton Popma 84, Jon Tensen 94, Aaron Madson 92, Christians Thoen 101.
RTR Individual Results: Hudson VanDrunen 76, Nate Christensen 88, Nathan VanDrunen 94, Andrew Miller 121, Hunter Burns 96, William Dunblazier 108.
Ortonville Individual Results: Jade Hasslen 88, James Nitz 90, Joe Mathes 84, Logan Schoon 112, Ben Anderson 103, Brittan Conroy 95.
Marshall White Individual Results: Colin VanKeulen 88, Kooper Veldhuisen 101, Jon Wyffels 91, Austin Edwards 92, Spencer Aufenthie 99.
BOLD Individual Results: Cole Mertens 99, Nick Feige 93, Ethan Ryberg 100, Coleman Van der Hagen 91, Scott Rauenhorst 102, Nick Kubesh 92.
Lincoln HI Individual Results: Jeramie Blegen 96, Jeff Gladis 86, Jonathan Piehl 101, Tristen Studemann 107, Jordan Twedt 113.
Lakeview Individual Results: Quinn Fenger 102, Taylor Pickthorn 105, Andrew Lovsness 107, Paul Louwagie 113, Jackson Lovsness 92, Eric Peterson 136.
MACCRAY Individual Results: Dean Schroeder 79, Isaac Gosseling 110, Charles Rothwell 105, Andrew Gosseling 118, Nate Zurn 134, Nathanial Johnson 138.
Canby Individual Results: Nick Simonton 98, Vasu Potla 94, Jesse Lokken 121, Bill Longhenry 114, Gavin Benz 109.
MLC Individual Results: Aaron Walzak 95, Tyler Dick 114, David Lorhenz 115, Ben Rabbe 98.
Minneota Individual Results: Aaron Buysse 103, Alec Engler 105, Leo Buysse 138, Matt Myhre 118, Troy Skaar 116, Caleb Morse 125.
RCW Individual Results: Charlie Wittenberg 99, Chase Dunsmore 132, Tyler Schorn 129; Ryan Countryman 135.
"I didn't hit the ball well, but I had a streak of six one-putts in a row," Bennett said. "In my high school career, I haven't had 27 putts before. That was the best so far, and hopefully, it stays like that.
"I missed a lot of greens, so I could chip it as close as I could and make the putt, and I did that quite a bit on the back."
With a team score of 318, the Marshall Black team held off Benson (326) and Montevideo (327) for the team title. Marshall Orange (341) and Yellow Medicine East (351) rounded out the top five.
With the conditions, Lucht said 318 was a fair score. But for a team that has state aspirations like the Tigers, the score showed some flaws in Marshall's game.
"As much as we've been practicing as far as the shots we should hit in this windy condition, I wasn't happy as far as some of the shots I've seen," Lucht said. "We got it up into the wind, which is wrong and not the way you're supposed to play in these conditions. We'll work more on the punch shots because the way it's looking, it's going to be a windy spring."
Following Bennett for Marshall Black was Brent Haukom, who shot a 78.
"Brent was down and wasn't playing very well, and he ended up coming back," Lucht said. "...They solidified and kept themselves together. Three-hundred eighteen is a fair score, but it's not the score we had in mind."
Max Deutz, last year's Class AA state champion, finished with a round of 82, and Bo Erickson followed with an 84 for Marshall Black.
"Hopefully we can keep winning and start hitting in the low 70s," Bennett said.
For Marshall Orange, Jacob Baker and Alex Buysse shot the low rounds with 82s. And finishing in ninth place with 370, Marshall White was led by Colin VanKeulen's round of 88.
For individuals, Benson's Sam Peterson took second, carding a 75, and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton's Hudson VanDrunen finished with a 76. With VanDrunen's round, RTR finished in seventh with a score of 354.
"My drives were good. My irons were a bit shaky, but what helped is I chipped and putted real well," VanDrunen said. "I had a chip-in at hole six for birdie. The front nine, I was getting good lies and everything was going my way."
Rounding out the individual top five was Montevideo's Phillip Ward and Haukom for Marshall Black, with both carding 78s.
Finishing in fifth, the Sting got a team-best score from Mitch McCosh (81), while Dawson-Boyd finished in sixth with a score of 353, thanks to an 83 by Ryan Sumner.
Lincoln HI's Jeff Gladis shot a team-best 86, helping the Rebels take 11th with a score of 389. Lakeview finished in 12th (406) as Jackson Lovsness carded a team-best 92, and Canby finished 14th with 415. Vasu Potla finished with a 94 to lead the Lancers.
Minneota closed out the scoring for area teams, finishing in 16th with a score of 442. Leading the Vikings on the course was Aaron Buysse, who shot a 103.