By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Waterford High School boys golf team is making a return trip to the WIAA Division 1 State Golf Tournament.
The Wolverines won the WIAA Division 1 Mukwonago Sectional Tournament June 3 at Edgewood Golf Course in Big Bend with a team score of 320, two strokes better than runner-up Brookfield Central (322).
“The kids are excited,” Waterford coach Mike Harmeling said. “Two years in a row. That says a lot about this group of individuals. I really can’t say enough about the three seniors we have here.”
Zach Nash, Garrett Buri and Grant Beck are the Wolverines’ three seniors. Each competed last season at state.
The 2014 boys’ state golf tournament is June 9-10 at University Ridge in Madison. The top two teams at each sectional tournament advance to state, along with the top three individual scorers not on a qualifying team.
“It came down to the wire,” Harmeling said of Waterford’s sectional victory.
Waterford and Central tied at the turn, and the final foursome determined the final score on the final hole.
Buri finished at 77 and Brookfield Central’s Matt Maus carded an 82. Central’s Eddie Wajda finished at 74 and won individual medalist honors. Nash led the Wolverines with a 75.
Wajda tied for second at last season’s state meet and is a University of Wisconsin golf recruit.
“That says a lot, in regards to how Zach played,” Harmeling said.
Harmeling said Nash dealt with the wind and made about a two-and-a-half-foot putt on the final hole to cement the final margin of victory.
“Conditions were tough,” Harmeling said. “It was windy and it was long (the course).”
Nash finished second and Buri third. Matt Puetz finished 12th for the Wolverines with an 83 and Grant Beck finished 17th (85). James Maney shot an 87 and finished 23rd in the 48-man field.
In team scoring, Waukesha West finished third (336), Mukwonago fourth (338), Kettle Moraine fifth (339) and Brookfield East sixth (346). Menomonee Falls finished seventh (371) and Wauwatosa East/West eighth (375).
The Wolverines advanced to the Mukwonago Sectional Tournament after winning the WIAA Division 1 Waukesha South Regional Tournament May 28 at Naga-Waukee Golf Course in Pewaukee. Waterford posted a season-low team score of 313.
Waterford finished 12th in the state in Division 1 last season with a two-day team total of 653 at University Ridge. Cedarburg won the state title (598).
Nash shot rounds of 77 and 79 last year at state. Buri shot rounds of 81 and 82, and Beck finished at 88 and 86. Nash finished tied for 27th place among individuals.
The Wolverines advanced to state last season after finishing second in the Brookfield Central Sectional Tournament at Wanaki Golf Course in Menomonee Falls.
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