By Reagan Hoverman

The back-to-back defending state championship Car- dinals are ou to a hot start this season, as Prescott has posted the best team score at all three events to start the 2022 campaign.

After taking home first place at the Tomah Invitational on Monday, Aug. 15, the Cardinals took home another victory on Wednesday, Aug. 17, at the Baldwin- Woodville Invitational, followed by a first-place fin ish as a program at the Western Wisconsin Cup, despite the Middle Border Conference being edged out by the rival Big Rivers Conference.

Just when it appeared as if senior Ava Salay couldn’t get any better, she’s improved. The opening two weeks of the 2022 season have been sensational for the Division One-bound Wisconsin commit.

Salay followed up a medalist performance at the Tomah Invitational with a six-under par 66 at the Baldwin-Woodville Invitational at the Pheasant Hills Golf Course, which tied the course record set by current LPGA Tour player Casey Danielson, an Osceola High School graduate. Prescott head coach Chad Salay spoke about Ava’s 66.

“I was bouncing around for a bit, but I knew she had some good approach shots and so I figured she would have some good looks,” Chad Salay said. “It was a good ball striking day and she made some putts and she made like a 30-footer, so that helps. The weather was favorable and she was dialed in.”

While Ava was lighting up the scoreboard, other Prescott players were contributing and helping shoot a team score of 327. Prescott’s JV roster finished with a team score of 385, which beat other local varsity scores including Somerset, Ellsworth, Saint Croix Central and Osceola.

Other Prescott varsity scores include senior Maddie Reiter’s 86, senior Rhi Stutz’s 86, senior Maddie Rundquist’s 89, and sophomore Gabbi Matzek’s 92. The 327-point team score was just nine shots away from Prescott’s program record 318 which was shot by the previous state championship team.

“I feel like we played well but Maddie Reiter and Rhi Stutz felt like they left some strokes out there,” Chad Salay said. “They weren’t disappointed but didn’t feel like they had their best. We talked about easily shaving ou 10 strokes between those two. I think that 327 was a good or maybe a great score for this team.”

After winning the Tomah and Baldwin-Woodville Invitationals, the Cardinals competed in the Western Wisconsin Cup, an annual tournament that has Middle Border Conference teams compete against Big Rivers Conference teams to determine which conference has better golfers, top to bottom.

This year’s Western Wisconsin Cup was at the Clifton Hollow Golf Club near River Falls. All Middle Border and Big Rivers teams were at the event which the Prescott Cardinals once again won. Prescott’s varsity team score of 318 won by 23 shots over the second-placed New Richmond Tigers and by 48 shots over the Hudson Raid- ers' third-place finish.

Notable scores for the Cardinals include Ava Salay’s eight-under par 64, which as of Monday, Aug. 22, is the best high school score shot in Wisconsin this season and earned her medalist honors. Other scores include Stutz’s 75, which was a solo second finish behind Ava Salay in the overall results. Rundquist shot an 89, Matzek posted a 90, and Reiter rounded out the scoring with a 94.

“We had Ava (Salay) and Rhi (Stutz) finish one and two and the team score of 318 matched our program record,” Chad Salay said. “We were far and above the stron- gest team there and finished first by more than 20 shots. Rhi’s 75 was a personal best for her and she played great out there and just didn’t make many mistakes out there.”

Chad Salay spends a lot of time in the ouseason cal culating scores for his team and other great teams around the state to figure out what his girls need to be shooting to continue winning state championships.

Throughout this ousea son, Chad Salay had calculated that with Ava Salay shooting approximately 70, Stutz shooting between 75 and 80, and Maddie Reiter shooting around 83, he would need those last two varsity slots to be at approximately 90-92 by the time the playous come around. He spoke about those averages and where his team is at.

“The biggest concern I had this ouseason was get ting those two players to average around 90 or 92,” Chad Salay said. “If we can get that, I feel like there’s not a team in the state that can catch us. That’s kind of the magic number and we might even exceed that. We just need to keep working hard.”

One week into the season, Maddie Rundquist has already shot an 89, Gabbi Matzek has posted a 90, and that’s just as the year is getting going. Chad Salay spoke about the excitement of seeing some of those low scores this early in the season.

“This year I may have overestimated other teams, but I’m happy doing that because it gets us motivated,” Chad Salay said. “We’re shooting those numbers right now at a couple of events, but we still have to prove we can do it at some other courses. Certainly, to see them shooting in the 80s and 90, that’s awesome, especially for this time of the year.”

On Monday, Aug. 22, Prescott competed in its first Middle Border Conference event of the season at the Princeton Valley Golf Course in Eau Claire (Altoona). Ava Salay shot a 33, Stutz shot a 39, Rundquist finished with a 43, sophomore Jeanne Rohl posted a 43, Reiter shot a 46 and Matzek finished with a 52.

Prescott’s total team score of 158 won the event over Altoona-Regis’ second-place team score of 185. Ava Salay’s 33 earned her medalist honors for the event. Up next for the Cardinals is an invitational tournament on Tuesday, Aug. 23, at the Baraboo Country Club in Baraboo. That meet is slated to begin at 9 a.m.

Prescott senior Rhi Stutz hits an iron at the Baldwin-Woodville Invitational on Wednesday, Aug. 17, at Pheasant Hills Golf Course in Hammond. Stutz has played some of the best golf of her career to start her senior campaign, which includes a personal-best 75 at the Clifton Hollow Golf Club in rural River Falls. Photo courtesy of GX3 Media

Prescott senior Ava Salay hits a driver during one of the tournaments to start the 2022 season. Salay has been on fire and has played every round under par this season, including the Tomah and Baldwin-Woodville Invitationals, the Western Wisconsin Cup, and the first Middle Border Conference event in Eau Claire. Photo courtesy of GX3 Media