With the Southwest Conference championship meet today in Redwood Falls, and the sub-section meet in Tyler on Wednesday, Marshall boys' golf coach Allen Lucht brought his junior varsity golfers to Owatonna. His goal: give his younger golfers a chance at the varsity level to get them ready for the future.
"I had two of them who were so nervous, but this was really good for them," Lucht said. "It was a good test. ... That was a tough golf course. It gave the kids a good outlook on what they have to do."
Bringing four freshmen - Jacob Baker, Colin VanKeulen, Will Gallagher and Jon Wyffels - along with two sophomores - Alex Buysse and Taylor Rasmussen - the Tigers finished in ninth place in the nine-team tournament with a score of 371.
Winning the meet was the Owatonna Blue team, which carded a 321 to defeat Decorah (Iowa) by four strokes.
"(The meet) gave our kids an insight for later on," Lucht said. "We need that if we're to have a good team in the future."
New Prague's Jack Dexa took medalist honors with a 74, besting Decorah's Nick Nelson by a stroke.
Buysse was the Tigers' top golfer on Saturday, shooting an 88. Rounding out Marshall's score were Wyffels (92), Baker (94) and VanKeulen (97).
"He's really worked himself up," Lucht said of Buysse.
While his varsity golfers got ready for today's conference championship by working on their short games back home, Lucht said sending the JV golfers to Owatonna was a win-win for the team as a whole.
"It worked out the best for all of us," Lucht said. "It gives us the training and the foresight for the younger generation, and gives the A-team a rest and lets them get comfortable with themselves with a big week coming up."
Team Scores: 1. Owatonna Blue 321; 2. Decorah (Iowa) 325; 3. Bloomington Jefferson 328; 4. Prior Lake 328; 5. New Prague 329; 6. Shakopee 333; 7. Rochester Lourdes 350; 8. Owatonna Silver 354; 9. Marshall 371.
Marshall Individual Scores: Alex Buysse 88, Jon Wyffels 92, Jacob Baker 94, Colin VanKeulen 97.