On Tuesday (May 24) the Bluejay golfers competed in the Stevens Point Regional tournament. Merrill sent three golfers to compete. Scorers included Hunter Wallace with 43-51=94, Tanner Pettit (49-49=98) and Mitchael Cammack (59-69=128). Stevens Point won the event with a four man team score of 310 followed by Wausau West with 329.
This closes out a year of both challenges and successes for the Bluejay golfers. Some years the turn out for the team is low and this was one of those years. This often made it difficult to fill out a varsity and JV squad for competition, so at times the squad did not have a full five man team. Despite this, the team members agreed to play and do their best on some of the area’s most challenging courses.
On the success side, coach Mertens would like to recognize Hunter Wallace for his play this season, earning him the lowest team average with 90.3 and most valuable team player honors.
“This 18-hole average of 90.3 is very promising for a freshman and with continued improvement suggests a bright all-conference future for Hunter,” Mertens said. “He finished third team all-conference and is recognized for his academic success in the classroom as well.”
Mertens would also like to recognize senior Tanner Pettit, team average 93.0, who is one of the senior class valedictorians, a recipient of the golf booster club scholarship, an academic all conference recipient and leader of the team.
“Tanner demonstrated perfect competitive attendance this season and was a vital member of the team who voluntarily went out of his way to support the younger team members through his encouragement,” Mertens said.
Senior Connor Kleinschmidt, also a recipient of a booster club scholarship, averaged 101.0 and earned the “most improved player this year” honors. Other members of the team included Tad Pike, Dallas Kaufman, Ben Tabor, Austin Zettler, Riley Rosengren, Brian Root, Brendon Root, Travis Wright, Wesley Mcintyre, Mitchael Cammack, Russ Dettmering, Gary Hoffman, Carson Baguhn, and Riley Schotz.
Mertens would also like to thank teacher Andy Plisch for his voluntary help with the team.
“As coach, I was able to give many of these young players experience playing in varsity and JV matches and I am hopeful they return next year ready to again represent the Bluejay golf team.”