Golf takes first place for first time in two years

Matt Hoh

After a two year drought, the Lawrence golf team pulled of a first place finish by beating Ripon in a tie breaker at the St. Norbert Invitational, held at Mid-Vallee Golf Club. On the par 70 golf course the team shot a 320 which was tied with Ripon however the tie breaker went down to the team with the best fifth golfer score, which was Lawrence.
Vyskocil was not feeling the best before he stated, “It was kind of funny though, because Coach Jojo asked me if I was doing okay and I said I didn’t feel well, but I thought I was going to shoot a good score. He just said that’s good and stay away so you don’t get me sick.”
Vyskocil did just that – shooting 6 over par (76) and taking 5th place which paced the Vikings to their first place finish.
Freshman Jon Mays finished in a tie for 10th by shooting a 79. The rest of the team placed as follows: sophomore Adam Ferguson tied for 18th, freshman Wonjae Sung tied for 20th, and sophomore Jim Breen tied for 26th.
“We were all pretty excited, even though some of us may not have played as well as we would have liked. The fact that we won even though a couple of us didn’t play our best is good for conference,” Vyskocil said after their team win.
Lawrence also had a few individual golfers participate in the Invitational. Sophomore Andrew Russell shot a 79 good enough for a tie for 10th. Senior Sebastian Specks and junior Chris Carlson finished up for Lawrence in a tie for 43rd and 45th places respectively.
The Vikings were also in action Saturday, Apr. 26, at the Lawrence University Invitational, where they placed fifth. The Invitational was held at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Hortonville.
“The weather on Saturday was awful at Eagle Creek. It was quite cold and the 35 mile per hour winds made the course even more difficult than it already is,” Vyskocil commented.
On the par 72 course, the Vikings were lead by Mays who shot an 81, which was good enough for a 14th place finish. Ferguson and Breen tied for 26th place with a finish of 85. Rounding out the team was Vyskocil and Sung.
The golf team is back in action on May 1-3 where they will be competing in the Midwest Conference Championships at Alden Golf Club in Rockford, Ill. The team will be playing for a conference title.