THL golf wins Crivitz regional by 20 strokes to advance to sectionals

Things kept rolling in the right direction for the Three Lakes-Phelps varsity golf team, as the Bluejays cruised to victory in regional championship play at Hunters Glen Golf Club in Crivitz yesterday. The team shot a 328 team score to beat out the closest finisher, Laona-Wabeno, by 20 strokes. 

All five Bluejay golfers finished inside the top 20 individually, with four of the five inside the top 10. 

The team is looking to advance to state as a team for the first time in program history, while only three Bluejay golfers have advanced to the state tournament as individuals, with the last being in 2005. 

Sophomore Sean Wallschlaeger paced the team with a five-over 77 for fourth place, with senior Grayson Polcaster in fifth after he shot a 78. Freshman Trenton Peterson and senior Levi Lurvey also finished within a stroke of each other, with Peterson firing an 86 and Lurvey with an 87. Senior Matthew Klein also shot a 96 for the Bluejays. 

“Sean had a nice day and was our top scorer. We had four of our scorers in the top nine, so it’s tough for others to beat that and win,” said Three Lakes-Phelps head coach Michele Brown. Wallschlaeger had a pretty steady round in regionals, as the sophomore bogeyed two of the first three holes before gaining a shot on the par-5 fourth hole to get back to one over par. He rounded out the front nine with a bogey and double-bogey to shoot a 40. He gained momentum back with a really nice back nine, with birdies on holes 10 and 11 to get to two over par, before staying steady over the last six holes by going three over par in these holes to finish his round. Polcaster had a better round than his six-over par score showed. His only hiccup on the front nine was a double bogey on hole six. He opened his round with a bogey on the first hole, but got the shot back on the fourth-hole birdie to put himself even through five holes. He finished the front with a two-over 38. He parred three of the first five holes on the back nine, in addition to one bogey and one birdie, to stay two over par with four holes remaining. He finished his last three holes at plus-four with two bogeys and a double. 

Peterson had a steady front nine with five pars, three bogeys and a double. He had more of an up and down back nine with three double bogeys. 

Lurvey had consistent scores on both sides, firing a 43 on the front and 44 on the back. Lurvey finished with two pars and a birdie on the front, and three pars on the back. He also mixed in some bogeys, two doubles and a triple as well. 

Klein played bogey golf for much of the front, adding two doubles on his way to a front score of 46. His biggest hiccup on the day was a three-hole stretch on the back nine with a triple, double and double on holes 13, 14 and 15. 

With the victory, the Bluejays take momentum into sectionals next Tuesday, June 2, at a familiar course at Bass Lake Country Club. Coach Brown said there are a few teams that Three Lakes

could compete with, as just the top two teams advance to the WIAA state tournament at University Ridge in Madison. 

“Although we’ve defeated Crandon all year, they are a team to watch, as is St. Mary’s Catholic and Mishicot,” she said. “We just need to keep consistent play going and see what happens. We have a legit shot at getting to state.” 

The sectional meet will be after the deadline of this next week’s publication, so visit the News-Review website and Facebook page for up-to-date information. Our Sports Editor, Jacob Heid, will be at Bass Lake next Tuesday to follow the Jays’ attempt at state.