April showers have given way to stellar weather and a full slate of spring sports.
The Chaska Hawks golf team participated with 19 other schools in the Lord Nelson’s Classic at the Ridges Course at Sand Creek near Jordan on May 6. The course will be the venue for the State 2A boys & girls championship in June.
Many metro teams were in the field for this event. Current rankings by the MSHSL have Chanhassen #2, Waconia #7 and Rosemont #9 and each participated in the event.
State ranked golfers playing in the event included Chanhassen’s Lucas Arntsen (Sr.) #2, Eden Prairie’s Ryan Cronin #3 (Sr.), Chanhassen’s Andrew Ballou (Sr.) #6 and Waconia’s Ryder Haskins (8th) #14.
As with all high school golf meets, the Lord Nelson classic was a varsity event. Each team had six players, with the top four scores counting. Each team also had a junior varsity contingent that played on an exhibition basis.
Chaska Coach Jeff Rydland followed the team between holes and noted that the meet had a tough field on a challenging course.
“We’ve been working on our game all season and are doing well on working on our goals,” he said. “Technique is important naturally, yet each course is different, and course management/play is always a key factor.”
As he shared those sentiments, one of his golfers hit a very nice chip shot to the cup, but the shot hit the flag pole, sending the ball back down the green.
“Golf is a frustrating game. We’ve got a great bunch of guys,” he said. “They pull together and help each other out. We’ve got a mix of seniors and sophomores.”
Chaska hit the course in Jordan after a strong showing on May 5 at the Metro West Conference meet in St. Louis Park.
Jamison Wolfer (Sr.) carded a 72, Ty Smith (Sr.) 76, Griff Stein (So.) 77 and Brayden Soderstrom (Sr.) 81, for a team season best of 306 and a sixth place finish for that meet.
Results for the Lord Nelson classic were Chanhassen with the low score of 289 with team results as follows: Lucas Arntsen (63), Cameron Stenzel (73), Andrew Ballou (76) and Brody Pluth (77).
Of the top 10 teams, the score difference for the Nelson Classic was tight at 22 strokes.
Chaska finished at 16th with a score of 325. Individual results were as follows: Griffin Stein (So.) 76, Ty Smith (Sr.) and Wesley Oliver (So.) 82, and Jamison Wolfer (Sr.) 85.
The Hawks will host the Chaska Invite on May 12 at the Chaska Towne Course, starting at 11 a.m.
