Deacon's Invite
Team: Warriors win by one stroke
Individual: Pete Dahl leads area players, but falls in scorecard playoff
Next: Brainerd, Pequot Lakes at St. Cloud Invite at St. Cloud Country Club 1:30 p.m. Thursday; Crosby-Ironton Pine River-Backus, Staples-Motley, Wadena-Deer Creek in Mid-Minn Conf. champion at Cragun's Legacy Courses 4 p.m. Monday
BREEZY POINT - His legs were shot, but Pete Dahl's confidence was racing.
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The Brainerd Warriors senior fired a 74 Tuesday at Deacon's Lodge to tie for medalist honors. He got nipped in a scorecard playoff by Moorhead's Dane Sethre-Hofstad, but still led the Warriors to the team title.
"I know the course pretty well, but I didn't get to putt before hand," said Dahl. "So I started out pretty rough on the greens. Then I got it going on the back. I'm not used to playing 36 holes of golf. I am pretty tired. My legs are dead. But today the putter and the irons were working."
More impressive was the fact Dahl's 74 was his second round of the day. Brainerd played a morning round in St. Cloud, where Dahl shot 80 to land in the top 10 of that tournament and lead Brainerd to second.
"We didn't get much time in between rounds, but I was still loose from the first 18," Dahl said.
At Deacon's, Dahl fired 37 on each nine He enjoyed back-to-back birdies on the par 4 fifth hole and the par 3 sixth. He concluded the front with a birdie on the par 5 ninth.
Dahl's only birdie on the back came on the par 5 18th.
"I've always had two or three bad holes, but today I just kept my round together," Dahl said. "It was nice to get a complete round in. It was nice playing with buddies today. That helped me to stay relaxed and focused. This builds a lot of confidence heading into the sections in a couple of weeks."
Dahl was followed by Joe Foley's fourth-place 79. Foley scorched the front nine, but struggled on the back. Jack Evans fired a ninth-place 81 and Andrew Muesing shot 83 for Brainerd's 317, which was one stroke better than Moorhead.
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"We're going in the right direction team wise," said Warriors head coach Brian Wallace. "That's what it's all about. Yes, golf is an individual sport, but we want to do well as a team. With Peter's leadership we are definitely headed in the right direction.
"We're playing well right now, but it's hard to put your finger on why. It just comes getting in a number of rounds and feeling comfortable with scoring well. That takes us a while."
Staples-Motley's Andrew Israelson isn't afraid to score well. The Cardinals junior fired a third-place 77 despite exploring the woods more often than not. Israelson's 77 along with an 83 fron Finn Erholtz pushed S-M into fifth place behind Pequot Lakes in fourth and Crosby-Ironton in third.
The Rangers received a 79 from Matt Donovan and an 80 from Tom Burgstaler. Jackson Goerges led Pequot with an 80 and Hunter Clement followed with an 83.
Jordan Kern's 83 led Wadena-Deer Creek to seventh and Pine River-Backus finished seventh.
Aitkin's Tom Petersen shot 85 for the incomplete Gobblers.
For Brainerd it's the sixth Deacon's Lodge Invite title in the last 11 years, but first since 2010. Brainerd shot a 323 in St. Cloud for a two-round total of 640. While happy now, Brainerd knows it will likely have to go lower during the Section 8-3A tournament.
"As a coach the only thing I need to do is to simply remind them that they're capable of doing better and hopefully they start to prove that," said Wallace. "Hopefully in the next 10 days their games will find some consistency before the section tournament and that's when we want to peak."
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Team scores: 1-Brainerd 317, 2-Moorhead 318, 3-Crosby-Ironton 333, 4-Pequot Lakes 349, 5-Staples-Motley 351, 6-Wadena-Deer Creek 395, 7-Pine River-Backus 431, Aitkin inc.
Individual medalist: Dane Sethre-Hofstad (Moorhead) 74
Aitkin results: Tom Petersen 85, Alex Gaulke 100, Sam Sadlowsky 115
Brainerd results: 2-Pete Dahl 74, Zach Mohrfeld 88, Andrew Muesing 83, 4t-Joe Foley 79, 9-Jack Evans 81, Sam Haug 86
Crosby-Ironton results: 5-Tom Burgstaler 80, 4t-Matt Donovan 79, Brett Midthun 89, Brehndan Knox 85, Zach Spalj 100, Shane Donovan 102
Pequot Lakes results: 5-Jackson Goerges 80, Ethan Neitzke 89, Hunter Clement 83, Tyson Kramer 97, Jack Harguth 101, Seth Golden 111
Pine River-Backus results: Nate Brasel 99, Brady Raph 109, Keegan Dahl 111, Troy Staples 112, Beau Broom 127, Evan Koering 142
Staples-Motley results: 3-Andrew Israelson 77, Tyler Helling 91, Fin Erholtz 82, Jack Benson 113, Jacob Bendson 101, Jordan Haglin 162
Wadena-Deer Creek results: Jordan Kern 83, Jack Goeden 94, Thomas Quincer 96, Dawson Lupkes 122
Mid-Minn standings:
Past team champions
2104: Forest Lake 325
2013: Staples-Motley 308
2012: Staples-Motley 302
2011: Moorhead 303
2010: Brainerd 313
2009: Staples-Motley 312
2008: Brainerd 331
2007: Brainerd 306
2006: Brainerd 308
2O05: Brainerd 318
Past individuals medalists
2014: Ethan Neitzke, PL 76
2013: Bailey Mueller, Park Rapids 73; Chris Swenson, Fergus Falls 73
2012: Nick Forsberg, SM 71
2011: Nick Forsberg, SM 73
2010: Sean Halverson, Brd 74
2009: Nick Forsberg, SM 75
2008: Tyler Monda, Brd 77
2007: Dan Bidle, Virginia 73
2006: Sam Holland, Brd 75
2005: Tom Boyer, Brd 73
2004: Tom Boyer, Brd 74
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .
