CARROLL — A single stroke can make all the difference, and it certainly did for the Woodward-Granger boys golf team Thursday.
W-G finished tied with East Sac County at 367 for the third and final advancing spot at their Class 2A Sectional Tournament, but ESC won the tiebreaker by a single stroke to end the season for the Hawks as a team.
However, senior Brady Aunspach secured an individual qualifier spot with his 42-44–86, a score good enough to move on as individual spots secure by a host school do not count, as they will have already moved on in team play.
Host Kuemper Catholic dominated play at the Carroll Country Club with a 318, well ahead of runner-up OA-BCIG’s 354. East Sac and W-G followed with identical 367’s, with Madrid (369), Southeast Valley (381), Ogden (391) and IKM-Manning (399) completing the field.
Jayed Tiggers (39-36–75) and Nate Mertz (42-34–76) led the champion Knights with the two lowest individual rounds to earn medals. Jacob Schleisman (45-38–83) and Ryan Feauto (44-40–84) also scored for the hosts.
Nick Brummond and Austin Ober joined Aunspach in scoring for W-G with rounds of 48-43–91 and of 51-40–91, respectively, while Matt Buch also scored with his 51-48–99. Max Helbling (54-49–103) and Hunter Pierce (58-51–109) were also in action for the Hawks.
East Sac County was led by Josh Halbur’s 41-37–78, the third lowest individual score, with OA-BCIG paced by a 43-38–81 from Brandon Schwade.
Jacob Meeker (42-44–86) had the low score for Madrid, with Keegan Goodwin (43-43–86) and Jaxon Myers (45-41–86) leading Southeast Valley, Jade Thompson (49-45–94) Ogden and Sma Gross (43-53–96) IKM-Manning.
Aunspach will tee off Thursday at 10 a.m. in the district tournament at Landsmeer Golf Course in Orange City. Unity Christian will serve as the host school. The Class 2A State Tournament will be played May 26-27 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
