Barely breaking their streak of hitting in the 80s, the Manhattan High Varsity boys golf team placed sixth at the Hutchinson Invitational and third at League.

“I just hope that … readers understand [that] it’s tough for players to be consistent and to not have a little bit of a roller coaster experience,” head coach Brad Ficke said. “You want to yell at them to make putts, but that would be like a basketball coach yelling at his kids to make baskets … They’re giving their all [and] they’re trying their hardest [and] sometimes they fall, sometimes they don’t.”

On Friday morning, the boys left for Hutchinson to compete against 23 other teams.

“[On] my second hole, right after a double bogey, I hit the green in two [strokes] and made a … 30 foot putt for [a] birdie,” junior Trey Sauder said.

As a team, the boys walked away with sixth place with a score of 321. Sauder and freshman Miles Braxmeyer led the team with 79s, senior Owen Braxmeyer shot an 80, and juniors Jonathan Wefald and Grant Snowden scored an 83 and 85 respectively.

“[It felt] pretty solid,” Sauder said. “Miles and I both know that we can probably shoot a little bit better [and] could’ve made a couple more putts.”

Just five points away from Emporia in second place, Manhattan scored a 328 overall at League on Monday.

“I think we could have done a lot better,” Miles said. “We could have placed second, maybe even won if we really stepped up our game.”

Miles led the team for the second time in a row, improving by one stroke and placing fifth. Not far behind, Owen scored 10th with an 80, Snowden 13th with an 82, senior Cole Schmitt 19th with an 88, Wefald 20th with another 88 and Sauder shot an 89.

“It felt good [to lead the team],” Miles said, “especially because I’m a freshman and [while] I know that my team could have done better, … it felt could for me [to] place in both tournaments.”

According to Ficke, Miles has proven to be a valuable asset to the team as an incoming freshman.

“I’m just happy for Miles,” Ficke said. “He has the perfect mentality for golf. He shows very little emotion, which doesn’t mean he … lacks effort or caring, he just is able to persevere and shake things off.” 

This Thursday, the boys will hit the road to play in Junction City and on Monday the team will compete in Emporia. Originally, the team planned to play in three tournaments this week, however, Manhattan pulled out of Saturday’s game against Garden City due to overnight competition rules.