Story originally printed in the Onalaska Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com
Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
Regionals on tap for golfers
Onalaska High School's boys golf team entered the season with three proven players in seniors Jason Jorgensen and Cody Ferguson, and junior Mark Wittchow, and hopes that their depth would be improved this season. That depth continued to pay huge dividends in the last week, with No. 4 player Brad Preeshl pacing Onalaska at Friday's Whitefish Bay Invitational and No. 5 player Clint Ferguson earning medalist honors at Saturday's Stanley-Boyd invite.
Preeshl carded a 5-over-par 77 to finish 10th among 119 players Friday at Brown Deer Park, which is the home of the PGA Tour's former Greater Milwaukee Open. Onalaska posted its worst score of the year, but second-best score in its trips to Brown Deer at 326, though they were fifth and 23 strokes behind champion Eau Claire Memorial. The Hilltoppers also got scoring rounds of 82 from Mark Wittchow, 83 from Cody Ferguson and 84 from Clint Ferguson, with Preeshl playing the course for the first time.
“It was pretty long and tight,” Preeshl said. “You needed to keep your ball in the fairway. But I started well (two birdies), struck the ball well and putted all right.”
Preeshl said his game is conducive to success on a tighter course. But not necessarily a longer course.
“I think I'm a pretty consistent player,” Preeshl said. “I'm not terribly long off the tee, but I usually strike it well and putt decent.
“But I worked on my driving with (local PGA pro) Tom (Gees) a lot in the winter. I hit in the back yard and in the garage and it helped a lot. Now I want to work on my short game a lot this summer.”
Ferguson carded a 3-over 37-38-75 Saturday, buoyed by a team-high 15 pars and one birdie. He shot even-par on his best 17 holes, with his lone major flaw coming after hitting a ball out-of-bounds on the short par-4 11th hole according to Hilltoppers head coach and course owner Dick Kyes.
“I was solid and kept the ball in play,” Ferguson said of his Saturday round. “I putted well and made the putts I should have made.
“I haven't putted well most of the year. I've haven't been hitting bad putts. They've been close but haven't been dropping.”
Jorgensen had nine pars and a team-high four birdies in a 4-over 36-40-76 that was good for second individually. Cody Ferguson had 13 pars in a 40-39-79 that was good for ninth, while Wittchow had 11 pars in a 40-40-80 that was good for 12th individually. Preeshl had 10 pars and a birdie in a 42-39-81 that was good for 14th individually.
OHS officially clinched its seventh straight Mississippi Valley Conference championship Monday. Each of Onalaska's five players other than Clint Ferguson earned first-team all-league honors.
“This team is all so similar,” Ferguson said. “My freshman year (2005) we counted on Ren (Jungck), Dan (Price) and Alex (Kroeger). That's what has made us good.”
Kyes said, “It was a tough day, especially with an east wind at the start. You opened with a 450-yard, par-4 into the wind and a par-5 with a back pin. I saw a lot of three putts.
“We don't ever take winning the MVC for granted. The first rung on our ladder is always to win the MVC.”
Onalaska begins the postseason Tuesday with regionals at 9 a.m. at the Reedsburg Country Club. The top four teams advance to sectionals, with the field including the six MVC schools, Reedsburg and Baraboo. Reedsburg features Patrick Flint and Ellie Arkin, who will play at the Wisconsin-Madison this fall.
“We just have to keep playing like we have been in the MVC matches,” Preeshl said. “We haven't played as well in the invites, but we've played well in the MVC matches.
Ferguson said, “We just have to all be solid. We don't have to do anything special. Being right up there for the state title is the ultimate goal.”
All stories copyright 2006 Onalaska Life and other attributed sources.