Page B-2 PIERCE COUNTY JOURNAL April 20, 2022 ______________________________ _________________________ _________________________ __________________

The River Falls High School boys’ golf team competed in its first meet of the season at the Varsity Invitational at the Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson on Monday, April 11, and posted two individual scores that finished in the top eight of all rounds at the invitational.

In total, 18 scores competed at that Monday morning golf tournament, which carried into the afternoon hours on a cold – and at one point snowy – day on the golf course. Individual scores included Trey Timm’s 78, Matthew Marsollek’s 76, Ethan Campbell’s 92, Jacob Landgraf’s 93 and Austin Harer’s 98.

Timm’s 78 earned an eighth-place finish and Marsollek’s 76 earned a fourthplace finish at the meet. Both boys earned green ribbons for their efforts as they posted the leading scores on the team. In total, River Falls posted a team score of 337. After the scores had been tabulated, River Falls head coach Tim LaVold spoke about his team’s performance in the season opener.

“We know our top two guys are solid and we know the rest of our team is a work in progress,” LaVold said in the Troy Burne clubhouse. “I think I’m satisfied with what we got today. Matthew (Marsollek) had a nice round and Trey (Timm) had a nice round. They both know that they can do better, and they still had good rounds today.”

While Timm and Marsollek will continue to post the best scores for River Falls this year and are the most experienced on the varsity roster, the other golfers are just beginning their competitive golf careers, regardless of what year they are in school.

“For three of those guys, that was their first varsity meet,” LaVold said. “On a tough, windy day, to come out here and grind through it and play 18 holes, that’s a great experience for them and they will benefit from it. For the first round of the season, we know we’ve got work to do, but it’s great to be out here and see them all play. Now we’re ready for the season.”

One of the challenges of spring golf is that most student- athletes come out of winter without having swung a golf club the entire winter. Most of the kids on the River Falls team fall into that category, excluding Timm and Marsollek, who typically play throughout the winter. For those more inexperienced varsity players including Campbell, Landgraf and Harer, this is just the beginning for them.

“They’ve probably played a couple of 18-hole rounds, but the combination of the competition, the setting, the weather conditions and the fact that they haven’t played a lot of golf, it’s hard to score like that,” LaVold said. “They’re definitely going to get better when they can get outside, work on their short games and I can teach them a bit more how to score. You’re going to see a big improvement.”

Despite posting two of the best eight scores at the tournament, neither Marsollek nor Timm played to their full potential, according to LaVold. Part of that was the tough conditions with the wind, rain and snow. In addition to that, Marsollek couldn’t get any mid or long putts to fall and Timm wasn’t feeling well before the match.

“Marsollek hit the ball really well today and he just didn’t make any putts, once we can get that putter going, he’s going to be really good,” LaVold said. “To be honest, Trey (Timm) wasn’t feeling well when he teed off this morning.”

Both players – in completely different ways – shot good scores and overcame adversity in the first round of the year. Without the roster posting its best scores, they were still competitive, finished in the middle of the pack of overall team scores, and even defeated some Big Rivers Conference schools. “Most of the BRC teams were here today,” LaVold said. “I see we beat (Eau Claire) North by a couple of shots. We didn’t beat Hudson and we won't beat (Eau Claire) Memorial.”

River Falls’ team score of 337 beat Rice Lake (382), New Richmond (357), Chippewa Falls (372) and Eau Claire North (341). Hudson’s 327 narrowly defeated River Falls and Eau Claire Memorial’s 317 won the invitational.

In the first meet of the year, LaVold saw promise from some of his younger guys who are inexperienced. He has hope that those scores in the low 90s will turn into scores in the mid or even low 80s, which would completely change the trajectory of the program.

“We’ve got two of the best kids in the conference,” LaVold said. “It’s a matter of if we can find two more. If we can turn those low 90s into mid or low 80s, we’re going to be fine. It’s a lot different than last year where I had four solid guys that were going to put up numbers whenever they played. Now we’ve got two solid guys and Ethan (Campbell) is perfectly capable, he just hasn’t played enough golf.”

The next meet on the schedule for the River Falls golf team is on Tuesday, April 19, at the Lake Wissota Golf Course in Chippewa Falls. It will be the first Big Rivers meet of the season and is slated to begin at 3 p.m.

River Falls junior Matthew Marsollek receives his fourthplace ribbon after posting a score of 76 at the Varsity Invitational at Troy Burne in Hudson on Monday, April 11.______ __________________

River Falls senior Trey Timm receives his eighth-place ribbon at the Varsity Invitational at the Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson after he shot a 78 in the tough conditions. _________ _______________