EAST GULL LAKE — It was a historic day Wednesday, May 3, for Dawson Ringler.
The Brainerd senior shot his first ever under-par competitive high school round to help the Warriors tie for third at the Brainerd Invite at Cragun’s Legacy Courses.
Ringler fired a 1-under, 70 which was good enough to be the medalist at the home course.
“I was making putts I don’t normally do,” Ringler said after his round. “I was just trying to put the ball in the center of the green and put my long putts close and I just ended up making a few of them and those helped out a lot.”
Ringler started his round with a birdie on the first hole. After a double bogey on hole three, he bounced with back-to-back birdies on holes four and five.
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“That helped my confidence a lot because I usually get off to really bad starts,” Ringler said. “So to be able to get off to a birdie start and then bounce back after the double really helped me out knowing the ball was going in the right spots. I was able to play more aggressively because the shots were going where I wanted and that brings out the confidence.”
Ringler dropped a stroke to start the back nine with a bogey at No. 10. He got it back with a birdie on No. 12 and finished the round with a two-putt birdie on 18 to get into red numbers for the round.
“It felt good because that’s actually my lowest high school round ever,” Ringler said. “The way that last year ended for us really stings and to be able to fire a good round like this early and see the rest of the guys playing well feels good.”
Warriors head coach Brian Wallace could not have been more pleased with how his senior captain played.
“He is playing really relaxed at the moment and I think that is showing on the golf course,” Wallace said. “He is not really getting up tight about anything and controlling the emotional part of the game and it’s paying off for him. He’s also put in a lot of work this week on the putting green and on the driving range and when you go out on the course that just gives you confidence which I think was the difference for him.”
Moorhead came away with the team title with a score of 297.
Brainerd senior Max Holmstrom carded a 76 to be tied for eighth. Holmstrom tallied three birdies on his round.
Freshman Drew Haakonson fired a 78 with two birdies and Alex Asche birded 18 to shoot 79 for the Warriors. Brainerd finished with a team score of 303 which was tied with Sartell and was one behind second-place Rosemount.
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“We are still trying to sort out who is going to be in the top six,” Wallace said. “We are getting a clearer picture as the days go on as we compete in more events. They are all determined and fighting for a few spots.”
Pequot Lakes finished seventh led by eighth grader Tollef Birkland, who shot 78 with his lone birdie coming on hole seven.
Junior Logan Fogarty fired a 79 for the Patriots and senior Anthony Armstrong shot an 81.
“It’s been a good group,” Pequot Lakes head coach Steve Stoxen said. “Those kids are out there competing hard every day. We had a lot of wind in past days and today was a day without much wind. I think the kids were looking forward to a little bit better scores, but I got a young group who work hard and pull for each other.”
As a team Pequot finished with a score of 321.
“The younger core looks at our juniors and seniors right now and follows their example,” Stoxen said. “I got three good golfers who are juniors and seniors, but Logan and Anthony have led the way all year.”
Pequot Lakes is at Park Rapids next Friday, May 5, while Brainerd is at the Northern Invite in Virginia the same day.
“It is a very busy time,” Wallace said. “The guys are building on what we’ve done already and trying to grind through all these busy tournament schedules.”
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Stoxen added: “It’s good to get Pequot involved with the larger schools every once in a while and compete with some of those schools from the south.”
Team scores: 1-Moorhead 297, 2-Rosemount 302, 3T-Brainerd 303, 3T-Sartell 303, 5-Eastview 310, 6-Osseo 319, 7-Pequot Lakes 321, 8-St. Cloud 377
Individual medalist: Dawson Ringler (Brd) 70
Brainerd results: 1-Dawson Ringler 70, 8T-Max Holmstrom 76, 16T-Drew Haakonson 78, 21T-Alex Asche 79, 28T-Marty Timmons 80, 36-Keegan Davidge 84
Pequot Lakes results: 16T-Tollef Birkland 78, 21T-Logan Fogarty 79, 31-Anthony Armstrong 81, 34T-Jerome Martin 83, 37-Hunter Oelschlager 85, 41-Michael Oseland 87
Next: Brainerd at Northern Invite at The Quarry Friday, May 5; Pequot Lakes at Park Rapids 9 a.m. Friday, May 5.
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
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