Woodbury boys golf: Wareham’s last nine launch him into state field

Woodbury senior captain Nate Wareham shot a scorching 33 on the back nine of Bunker Hills Golf Course on the last day of the two-day, 36-hole Section 3AAA Championship Tournament, to launch himself into the Minnesota State High School League Class AAA State Golf Tournament.

“Nate played an incredible back nine at Bunker Hills,” Woodbury head coach Mike Anderson said. “After shooting 41 on the front, we talked to him about needing to play well on the back to make it as an individual. He hit the ball beautifully and holed some great putts to shoot 33.”

Out of section play, only one team advances to state, based on the two-day total, along with five individuals not on the top team. As a team, Woodbury qualified for the second day and took fifth place overall with a 654 total at the Section 3AAA tournament, held between Keller Golf Course in St. Paul and Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids last week. Eagan won the Section 3AAA championship crown with a 626 – ahead of surprising East Ridge (631) and Hastings (636).

“We had a tough go of it Bunker on day two of sections,” Anderson said. “As a team our chances at a state berth was lost really on the back nine at Keller. We were a little too far back going into the second day to catch the leaders.”

Individually, Wareham shot a first-day 77, then came back with a 2-over-par 74 at Bunker Hills for a 151 total – the second-best score overall and tops for the tournament not including Eagan’s golfers – to earn a trip to the state tournament.

In addition, Woodbury junior Mike Myers carded a 165, with an 83 on the first day and an 82 on the second day, for the Royals’ second-best score and senior Matt Hamilton and junior Thomas Swedenborg each shot 170s to round out Woodbury’s top four scores.

The Boys Class AAA State Tournament will start on Tuesday, June 12, at 11:40 a.m. at Bunker Hills.

Woodbury graduates seven seniors from its 2012 roster – Hamilton, Alex Bohn, Connor Brandt, Tyler Graves, Matt Jordahl, Chase Myers-Beck and Wareham.

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