By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Burlington High School boys golf team is advancing through the postseason, and a newcomer is leading the charge.
The Demons won the WIAA Division 1 Beloit Memorial Regional Tournament Tuesday with a team score of 323. Burlington Freshman Justin Meseberg shot a 74 on the 18-hole, par-72 course and won individual medalist honors.
“Justin was superb (Tuesday),” Demons coach Bill Berkholtz said. “He was never in trouble and just kept making pars. His 35 on the back-nine was a thing of beauty. He is looking forward to continuing his good play at the sectional tournament.”
Burlington now plays in the Watertown Sectional June 4 at Watertown Country Club in Watertown. The top four teams at each regional and the top four players not on one of the top four teams advance from regional to sectional competition.
The top two teams at the sectional tournament and top three individuals who aren’t members of one of the top two teams advance from the sectional to the WIAA State Golf Tournament June 9-10 at University Ridge in Madison.
The other side of the Demons’ sectional bracket is comprised of schools from the DeForest regional. The DeForest regional took place Tuesday at Lake Windsor Golf Course in Windsor.
Beaver Dam won the DeForest Regional (318). Fort Atkinson finished second (319), DeForest third (326) and Sun Prairie (337) fourth.
Burlington, Lake Geneva, Beloit Memorial, Milton, Beaver Dam, Fort Atkinson, DeForest and Sun Prairie are the field for the Watertown Sectional, with eight individual qualifiers between the two regionals.
Burlington last sent golfers to state in 2009, when the Demons qualified as a team after finishing second in the Westosha Central sectional.
Brian Dankle, the Demons’ No. 1, got hit by a case of the flu so severe Tuesday he almost did not compete. Dankle gutted it out and scored an 84.
Ben Geiger posted what Berkholtz called a “workmanlike” 80. Geiger finished tied for fifth.
“Ben shot one of his best rounds of the year,” Berkholtz said. “He had a couple of hiccups on the last two holes to keep him from the 70s.”
Josh Ketterhagen and Alex Kruk also performed well.
“Josh struggled on the front nine but came back with a strong 39 on the back to help tremendously,” Berkholtz said.
Ketterhagen finished with an 85. Kruk shot 45s on the both the front and back nine and finished at 90.
In the team standings at the Beloit Regional, Lake Geneva finished second (329), Beloit Memorial third (337) and Milton fourth (338).
Parker’s John Milner (75) and Bobby Wyss (83) and Craig’s Troy Lipker (84) and Nolan Moran (77) advanced out of the Memorial Regional as individuals.
Individual qualifiers from DeForest are Monona Grove’s Eli Buffat (79), Madison East’s Peter Cornwall (80) and Watertown’s Eli Jahnke (80) and Seamus McGuinness (83).
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