Boys golf takes fifth in district tournament, misses state cut
Varsity golfer senior Tom Stegman follows through on a swing during a practice at Benson Golf Course April 8. Stegman shot an 80 during the district tournament at Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln. Photo by John Ficenec
Boys golf will have to wait one more year to break its now-eight-year stretch without making it to the state tournament. Monday, May 19, the Westside boys varsity golf team missed the state tournament team cut by 17 strokes, placing fifth at the district tournament at Highlands Golf Course.
Westside shot a 339, while Grand Island shot a 322 to take third place, which is the cutoff for making it to the state tournament. Lincoln East won the event by shooting a 301. Lincoln Southwest is the other team heading to the state tournament from the district.
The five golfers representing Westside at the tournament were seniors Tom Stegman and Nate Selby, junior Max Petersen, and sophomores AJ Nolin and Hunter Tessin. Westside’s four scoring golfers were Stegman, Nolin, Selby and Petersen, who shot 80, 81, 89 and 89 respectively. Stegman missed the individual cut to make the state tournament, a 79, by one stroke.
Stegman said he started off well, with a 37 on his front nine (which started at the 10th tee box), but trailed off on his back (which started on hole one), shooting a 43.
Petersen said it was a windy day on the golf course. He said he noticed his shots being significantly affected. He said the wind and lack of experience playing on the course, which is in Lincoln, had an impact on the team’s performance.
“I think that the wind definitely added a few strokes to my personal score as well as the team’s,” Petersen said. “The three Lincoln teams that beat us play the Highlands all the time, so I think that they were more familiar to the windy conditions.”
The district tournament marks the end of the season for the team, which placed as highly as second in meets this year. The Warriors also saw numerous top 10 individual finishes from Stegman, Nolin and Selby. The team will lose Stegman and Selby to graduation.
Despite the early end to the season for the team, Stegman was thankful for his time on the team, and expressed his gratitude towards his coach.
“Wish I could of finished the season as well as I started the season, but it is what it is,” Stegman said. “[I] met a lot of great people and made a lot of good friends while playing this game. Also, [I] want to thank [head] coach [Brett] Froendt for all he has done for the team and all the time he puts into it. [I] also [want to] thank him for helping me out with everything and anything I needed help with.”
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