BIWABIK- The North Woods boys golf team fell short of one goal with a second-place finish in the East Range Conference league meet, held May 19. But their finish was still good enough for the Grizzlies to be crowned the overall league scoring champs for the season.
Sam Frazee made a good run at the top medalist position on the Quarry course at Giants Ridge but fell three strokes shy, finishing second with a score of 83.
On a different day, adding in Davis Kleppe’s sixth-place score of 87 and Ian Olson’s seventh-place 89 might well have been enough for the Grizzlies to claim a tournament crown. But with top medalist Andrew Peterson leading the way, red-hot Virginia-Mt. Iron-Buhl placed three golfers in the top five to take the ERC tournament team title.
Other North Woods scores included Eli Smith, 92; Ty Fabish, 94; Brant Boutto, 125; and Jonah Burnett, 154.
“The meet started out a bit rough for us,” Head Coach Will Kleppe said. “The Grizzlies started on hole #8, a challenging par four and the number one handicap hole on the course, so it put us behind right away. We made a good comeback but slipped at the finish.”
One rule change for the ERC tournament intended to help teams prepare for 7AA section play this week also presented a challenge, Kleppe said.
“The woods lining the course were played as part of the course instead of as a lateral hazard, so errant tee shots resulted in some tough decisions,” he said. “We handled it well for the most part, but a few holes got us.”
Disappointment with the runner-up finish took a little bit of the luster off a rare Grizzlies accomplishment— the team season scoring championship.
“That is a big accomplishment for the team,” Kleppe said, “certainly not something that happens very often for us, being the one single A team amongst some much larger schools. It’s definitely a big deal in the bigger picture.”
The Grizzlies were scheduled to compete in the 7A sectional tournament on Wednesday and Thursday at the Virginia Golf Course in Virginia.