(Atlantic) Braden Smith, Drey Newell, and Garrett McLaren advanced with a top-seven finish in a Class 3A Sectional Golf Tournament on Friday at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club. The trio each shot 80’s and will play at Landmeer Golf Course in Orange City on May 20.
“We knew going into this meet it was going to be tough,” said Atlantic Head Coach Ed Den Beste. ‘We figured it would take a 310 to win and below 320 to get second and move on. We were close, 325 is a good score but not to move on today.
“It’s amazing sending three individuals to Districts but not moving on as a team,” said Den Beste. “We needed a couple of guys in the mid to high 70s to move on as a team. Drey had a great front nine with a one-over-par but struggled to get pars on the back. Braden was eight over after six holes but strung together six straight pars to finish three-over on the back nine. Garrett had a better front nine and Lane was the same on both sides.”
Lane Nelson rounded out the team score with an 85. Roth Den Beste shot 88, and Cruz Weaver carded a 103.
“Cruz had a bad hole on 18 and that hurt, otherwise he would scored in the mid-90s,” said Coach Den Beste. ” Roth continues to improve and played the front nine as good as he has all season.”
ADM and Carroll advance to the District Tournament as teams. ADM won the sectional Tournament Title with a 316. Carroll finished second with a 322. Atlantic finished third, 325, Greene County, fourth, 348, Harlan, fifth, 360, Glenwood, sixth, 368, Denison-Schleswig, seventh, 371, and Perry eighth, 422.
Easton Korell, of ADM, medaled with a 74, and Parker Bekkerus, Denison-Schleswig, was runner-up with a 76. The five other qualifiers include Drew Munson, Carroll, 79, Sam Hlas, ADM, 80, Braden Smith, Atlantic, 80, Drey Newell, Atlantic, 80, and Garrett McLaren, Atlantic, 80.
