The Hub City Invitational provided a little late tourney suspense Tuesday afternoon at Lee Park Golf Course.
The individual championship came down to a three-hole playoff which was won by Jerome Zebroski of Watertown, who nailed a 25-foot putt to edge friend Tyson Dunn of Brookings after both finished with identical rounds of 70.
“That was fun,” Zebroski said after nailing the long putt. “I thought it missed. It just kept rolling.”
It appeared Dunn had the edge on the first playoff hole, before Zebroski hit a stellar second shot. It then looked like Zebroski was in control on the second playoff hole, before Dunn got out of trouble with a solid shot.
“You couldn’t have drawn it up too much better for two guys to go out and play three holes,” Zebroski said.
The senior, who recorded his first ever victory, said the moment was nerve-wrecking.
“There’s no other way to put it,” Zebroski said. “My heart was racing.”
The team title was a back-and-forth battle between Brookings and Watertown before the Arrows eventually pulled it out by a single stroke
Aberdeen Roncalli edged Aberdeen Central by four strokes for third place.
“They hung around for a while,” said Central coach Matt Brust of his players. “There was just a couple of pretty critical mistakes toward the end and it costs you a spot in the team finish. You hope to take experiences and build on them, and not make the same mistake again.”
While the Cavaliers finished slightly ahead of their cross-town opponent, the Roncalli players weren’t necessarily satisfied with their third place finish despite facing Class AA competition.
“We want to compete,” said Roncalli’s Finn Anderson. “Every time we go into a tournament we want to win, it doesn’t matter who’s there.”
Anderson was disappointed because he expected a better performance coming off the Northeast Conference Tournament on the same course the previous week.
“I expected to play better this tournament because we already played it last week,” Anderson said. “It was pretty much just the same thing.”
Roncalli finished with a team score of 304, a similar total to previous events, but the Cavaliers felt like they left strokes out on the course.
“We all would say we probably didn’t play our best,” Anderson said, “but it’s still early in the season.”
Members of the Central squad had similar sentiments about their rounds as well.
“It was a hard day. I kind of got around on the front, but the back kind of got me,” said Central senior Kalen Larson. “I wasn’t hitting it how I wanted to, but it’s OK. We all have days.”
Larson used to play football for the Golden Eagles before switching sports a couple of years ago.
“I just kind of enjoyed playing golf more and football is real hard on my body,” Larson said, “and if I like playing golf more, why not play it?”
When asked if he gives some of the football players advice, Larson responded, “I wouldn’t say I give them advice, but I like those guys still. A lot of them are my friends.”
The meet was the only home action for Central this season and provided a positive atmosphere.
“It’s good to have people that you know, like grandparents coming and watching you with closer meets,” said Central’s Cole Brust, “and then just knowing the course and knowing where you want to hit it, just a good thing to have.”
The event also provided an opportunity for the Central and Roncalli golfers to compete against each other for the only time during the season.
“It’s fun to play with them, you obviously know them,” Brust said. “It’s always a good time, but you’re still just trying to beat them, all the time.”
Roncalli’s Harper Schnabel (74) finished third with teammate Lucas Daggett (74) coming in fourth. NEC champion Jonathan DeBoer of Milbank (75) was fifth. Central was led by Jackson Ravellette (75) in seventh.
The Golden Eagles have a break before competing at the Yankton Invitational on Friday, Sept. 12.
“It feels close,” Coach Brust of his team putting it all together. “There’s a couple potential good finishes in there. We just need to grow and figure it out.”
The Cavaliers, who compete at the Parkston Invitational in Mitchell on Friday, will likely show up with a bit of a chip on their shoulders after their most recent performance.
“All my guys have the standards of wanting to play well, wanting to win, so when they come up a little bit short or they play the way they don’t want to, I want them to be mad,” said Roncalli coach Jon Murdy. “Otherwise, if they play bad and they don’t care, it’s like well then why are we going to practice, why are we doing this and stuff like that.”
To see complete tournament results, click on the following link:
