Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

When a coach summarizes a series of competitions with the comment, “An enjoyable weekend for sure,” there’s little doubt in how the players performed.

For the Forest Lake boys golf team, they spent some time on the road for two tournaments, which resulted in a runner-up finish in a 21-team field as well as a dazzling first place ending at the Grand Rapids Invitational.

“We had a productive weekend up north,” Rangers head coach John Buck shared.

The three days of golf began on Thursday with the Brainerd Invite, where Forest Lake loaded up on consistency and closed the afternoon with a team score of 308. This put them in a tie for second, three shots behind the host champion Brainerd Warriors.

Kyle Lewis edged out the matching 77s from Andrew Kelly and Douger Jeans with a 76, and Peter Follese was right behind them with a 78.

John Young shot an 80 and Jeremy Tetrault came in with an 81 to complete the scoring.

The first day of the Grand Rapids Invite was at Pokegema, and the Rangers totaled a nifty 301.

This time it was Kelly’s turn to lead, as he shot a 73. Lewis fired a 75, and then he was followed by Young’s round of 76, and Jeremy Tetrault’s 77.

Follese and Jeans wrapped up the top six players for Forest Lake with an 80 and an 82, respectively.

After Eagan and Moorhead ended with 303 a piece, and Fargo South — the defending state champion in North Dakota — had a 304, the Rangers were the top team when day one came to a close.

If other schools had any designs on overtaking Forest Lake on Saturday, those plans were promptly dismissed when the Rangers played limbo with their scores and crushed to a 298. Their two-day total was 599, and left Eagan and Moorhead completely out of contention for first place.

Day two, which was played at Eagle Ridge Golf Club, also belonged to Kelly as he shot another 73, giving him a grand total of 146 and finishing in third place overall.

In a display of team balance, Tetrault was next, also with a 73, which included an eagle on a difficult par four.

Behind Tetrault on this day was Lewis with a 75, and they would both finish with a 150 and tied for fifth place.

Even with a triple bogey, Young came in with a 76, and his score of 153 put him into a tie for ninth place.

Follese picked up an 84 and Jeans an 85.

“I was proud of the boys,” Buck concluded, “how they handled the pressure of playing with some top-ranked teams and individuals.

“We also continue to pick each other up when one person has a bad day.”

MONDAY'S RESULTS

The Rangers hosted the Forest Lake Invitational on Monday at Forest Hills, and the wins continued to roll in.

The Maroon team, comprised of Lewis, Kelly, Jeans, Young, Jordan Knoop and Tony Kuefler won with a 312. The Gold squad (Tetrault, Follese, Joe Pelton, Nick Carey, Jake Bredenbeck and Ryan Suess) shot a 318 for second place out of eight schools.

Tetrault and Pelton tied for the medalist honor with a score of 74.

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