The New Ulm Eagles struggled a little at their home invite on Thursday, April 16th, after rough starts to their rounds for most of the squad.
The Eagles returned a few starters from last year and have some good varsity experience on the squad. However, it was not the experienced golfers who led the way in the first meet of the year.
It was the young guns who led the way. 8th Grader Asher Wendinger was the top golfer for the Eagles at home, shooting a final 77. Followed by a 7th grader, Ethan Schmidt, who shot a final 78.
Head Coach Andy Aukes said, “It was a great showing for the young boys; it showed us what we have to look forward to the next couple of years and the bright future we have.”
With the young guns shining, it overshadowed the rest of the squad, who held down second place and kept the Eagles in the battle, falling short of beating the very tough St. Peter team.
2025 State participant Mason Buegler shot an 84. After Buegler shot a 46 on the front (+10), he settled back in on the back nine, where he shot a 38 (+3). If you watched Beugler last year, you know this is not his best golf.
“You’re going to have those days where nothing works out as you hope,” Beugler said. ” I just have to bounce back for the next meet, it’s only up from here.”
2025 varsity golfer Brandt Munson also shot a solid 84 to keep the Eagles in the battle. Munson was more consistent in his rounds, shooting a 43 (+7) on the front and improving slightly to a 41 (+6) on the back nine.
Colton Anderson and Brayden Wendinger were the next best shooting 88’s. Anderson was consistent, shooting a 44 on both the front (+8) and back (+9). While Wendinger showed improvement from the front to the back, shooting a 46 (+10) on the front and shaving a few strokes to shoot a 42 (+7) on the back nine. Lastly, followed up by first-year varsity golfer Owen Rasche, who shot a 97. Rasche struggled but was consistent as well, shooting a 48 (+12) on the front and falling to a 49 (+14).
The Eagles had started their invite a little shaky and were not looking the best, but eventually settled in and began to play Eagles golf and compete. They fell a bit behind the Saints early, but eventually worked their way back and closed the gap.
Andy Aukes finished by saying, ” It was a great opening to the season, the young guns showed out early, but we will need our experienced guys to step it up. We are in a good spot, but we have to keep working, and we will be just fine.”
