After falling from fifth to seventh place after the first two Missota Conference tournaments, the Tigers crept back up a rung on the league ladder with a sixth place showing at the third meet played Tuesday, May 10, at Royal Oaks Golf Club in Cottage Grove.
Chaska won the eight-team meet with a stroke total of 298, followed by fellow league newcomer Chanhassen 308, Shakopee 312, New Prague 320, Red Wing 322, Farmington 328, Holy Angels 338 and Northfield 339.
Cooper Loew displaced Tommy May atop the Tiger leader board with a 40-38 round. May was in good shape with an opening round 36 but ballooned to a 44 on the back nine thanks to a nine on the final hole for an 80.
"Cooper has really been playing well lately," coach Hon Holmes said. "Tommy just had some bad luck on the one hole. That's never fun."
Jacob Hanson ranked third on the Tiger team card with 84, two shots ahead of Matt Provost. Trevor Hockert finished at 90 and Mike Dalhed, battling a bad back, shot 94.
Holmes offered that for the first time his entire team took advantage of the new rule that allows the use of pull carts.
"It used the be that carrying the bag was the manly thing to do," Holmes said, "but I've found that it saves on the shoulders and it gives players access to more helpful tools to store things in regard to things like weather and cleanliness. It allows you to enjoy the experience in a more organized fashion."
The Tigers prepped for the conference get-together with a 14th place finish in the 17-team Shakopee Invitational played Monday at Stonebrooke Golf Club.
"We struggled again with one of the nines," Holmes said. "At some point these boys are going to get the feel down to to keep their mistakes from being bunched together on one nine. Then our team score will come down."
May was the most consistent player, backing up a first-round nine of 38 with a 39 on the back side. Provost shot 82, Dalhed 86, Loew 87, Hanson 88 and Hockert 92.
