Eagles in the swing of things

Shane Frey knew his Sauk Prairie boys golf team would be improved this season. But even Frey — the Eagles’ veteran coach — was pleasantly surprised with what he saw on April 11. The Eagles went to the Monona Grove Invite at The Oaks, shot a sensational 309 and finished eighth at the 24-team invite. “Our team score of 309 is by far the best score that we had since I have been coaching here,” Frey said. “It was an absolutely perfect day. The guys had a little trouble figuring out the greens early, but once they settled in they put up some great scores.” Boy, did they ever. Senior Garret Mittelstaedt had a sensational day with five birdies on his way to a 74. “I was really proud of Garret,” Frey said. “He was playing well and really enjoying himself out on the course.   “He has been a varsity golfer since his sophomore year and we are counting on him to lead us this year. He has high expectations for his senior year and I know that this will give him the confidence to know that he can play at a high level.” Greysen Dunn had a terrific day with a 76, while Gavin Falde added a 79 and Gavin Goetsch carded an 80. “Graysen gave himself plenty of birdie opportunities and hit some really quality iron shots,” Frey said of Dunn. “He too has very high expectations for himself and I know that he is looking to back this score up the next time he competes. “Gavin Falde had another great day. He has been really having a lot of fun on the course and I love his positivity. I knew that they all sensed that we were having a good day as a team. I really felt everyone was grinding to put up their best score. We need to bring that mentality to every match and tournament.” Here’s how the rest of the Eagles’ busy week went: • Stoughton Invite — The Eagles shot a 342-team score and finished fifth out of 13 teams on April 8. It was Sauk Prairie’s first invite of the season. Gavin Falde led the way with an 81, while Gavin Goetsch carded an 84. Garret Mittelstaedt shot an 88, while both Graysen Dunn and Colin Harrington shot 89s. “It was good to get out and get our first tournament in,” Frey said. “Gavin Falde put up a solid score of 81 in very windy conditions to lead the way for us. He really was very consistent with a lot of pars and bogeys and did a great job of keeping big numbers off his card.   “Gavin Goetsch also had a good day firing an 84. Overall, I was pretty pleased with our team score of 342 for our first event of the year. The guys always feel it could be better, but it was a solid start for us in pretty challenging conditions.” • Badger Small Mini-Meet — The Eagles fired a 332 and finished second at the first conference mini-meet of the year held at Norsk Golf Club on April 9. Stoughton won the event with a 331. “We were really excited to get our first Badger Conference Small mini-meet under our belts and see how we would compete,” Frey said. “Edgewood graduated the majority of their varsity line-up from last year.  “We added McFarland and Stoughton to the conference this year and weren’t sure what they would bring. Mount Horeb is always solid. We returned our entire varsity from last year, so I really felt going in that we would be able to hang with the other teams in our conference.” Gavin Falde led the Eagles with an 81, while Graysen Dunn carded an 82. Garret Mittelstaedt shot an 83 and Gavin Goetsch shot an 86. “The guys were very disappointed in coming up just short,” Frey said. “We had many mental mistakes down the stretch that cost us.   “Golf is a difficult sport and it is easy to get down on yourself when things start going bad. We will learn and grow from this near-miss. There were many positives to take away from the day. We know we can compete for a conference title. We control our own destiny.”