The Arlington, Blair and Fort Calhoun boys golf teams played their home course Tuesday during the River Wilds Golf Invitational.
“It's definitely easier when you know the course, I'd say,” BHS' Degan Dresden said after 18 holes at River Wilds Golf Club.
He produced the Bears' low score as they finished eighth in the 13-team Wilds Flight. Omaha Skutt was first followed by Omaha Concordia and Platteview in the top-three.
Fort Calhoun, meanwhile, took 10th.
In the 12-team Rivers Flight, though, Arlington was 12th behind first-place Elkhorn North, which shot just 9-over par collectively.
The Eagles' Winston Slykhuis was 18-over altogether, finishing with the lowest Washington County individual score of the day. He carded 90 strokes, finishing six holes with par putts.
Coach Landon Walkenhorst's top finisher played better across his second nine holes, too, cutting six strokes from his first nine.
“Got more open with it and got through the ball more,” Slykhuis said, commenting on his swing.
The AHS golfer has shot his team's low score more often than not lately.
“My putting has been really good,” he said. “My iron work has gotten way better and chipping is sometimes there.”
Slykhuis' goal for the rest of the season is to get down to 85 strokes.
Dresden, meanwhile, finished the River Wilds Golf Invite with 92 swings Tuesday. He led the Bears by one stroke, carding a birdie on the par-4 No. 16 hole and finishing four others even.
“I started off pretty rough and then, toward the end, I started playing pretty good,” the BHS leader said.
He corrected his play after the difficult start.
“I was hitting a lot of balls out of bounds,” Dresden explained. “So, I started hitting my driver well and started knocking down some putts.”
Fort Calhoun's Tysen Sunderman has made his fair share of putts in recent weeks, shooting a career-low 84 just last week. On Tuesday, he carded 94 strokes — with five made par putts — to lead coach Dustin Humphrey's lineup once again.
“I've been hitting my drives a lot better,” the Pioneer said. “I've been working on that pretty hard.”
His chipping game, however, wasn't as good at River Wilds, he explained.
Going forward, though, Sunderman said he wants to keep his scores below 90.
“Just perfect everything I can,” he said of his objective.
Behind its top finisher, FCHS' Beau Ruma shot a 102 across 18 holes at River Wilds. Adam Elofson added 103 strokes, Caden Newman had 110 and Korbin Klein shot a 118.
Arlington's Hunter Wallace took 103 swings to back up Slykhuis. Schuyler Logemann added 107 swings, too, while Nathan Erwin had 139.
After Dresden, coach Ross Udey's Bears had two more players card less than 100 strokes across two five-golfer lineups. Jack Schroeder and Aaron Hinman both carded 93s, while Justin Bird and Nolan Wolfe added 101 and 103 swings, respectively.
Blair's Rylan Olsen had 105 strokes, Jacob Hanson shot a 106 and Tyler Wolsmann finished with 113. Landon Holtz and Justin Kramer carded 119 and 123 swings, too.
Dresden said his team still has room to better itself as next month's district tourney looms.
“All of us have a lot of little things we can improve on,” he said. “All of us could pretty easily lower our score by, like, 10 strokes just off of little things.”
BHS' varsity was set to play Thursday in Tekamah, but next competes 9 a.m. Tuesday at Tiburon Golf Club during the Omaha Skutt Invitational.
Fort Calhoun's next varsity tournament is 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in North Bend, while Arlington plays two days earlier, Monday, at Platteview Country Club at 9:30.
Arlington drops dual
The AHS Eagles played nine holes at River Wilds on Monday, too.
Gretna East, however, earned the nine-hole dual victory. The Griffins varsity lineup finished with 166 strokes, their junior varsity lineup had 182 and Arlington carded 204.
Slykhuis led the Eagles with 46 swings, while Trenton Hansen had 50 and Wallace carded 52. Logemann added 56 strokes to the team total, while Johnathan Taylor had 60 and Erwin finished with 64.
RIVER WILDS GOLF INVITATIONAL
Tuesday at River Wilds Golf Club
RIVER FLIGHT
Team champion: Elkhorn North, 9-over par.
Individual medalist: Will Barth, Gretna East, 69 strokes.
Arlington results: Winston Slykhuis 90 strokes, Hunter Wallace 103, Schuyler Logemann 107, Nathan Erwin 139.
WILDS FLIGHT
Team champion: Omaha Skutt, 43-over par.
Individual medalist: Will Osborn, Platteview, 77 strokes.
Blair No. 1 results: Degan Dresden 92 strokes, Jack Schroeder 93, Justin Bird 101, Nolan Wolfe 103, Rylan Olsen 105.
Blair No. 2 results: Aaron Hinman 93 strokes, Jacob Hanson 106, Tyler Wolsmann 113, Landon Holtz 119, Justin Kramer 123.
Fort Calhoun results: Tysen Sunderman 94 strokes, Beau Ruma 102, Adam Elofson 103, Caden Newman 110, Korbin Klein 118.
