When the high school golf season began, coach Tom McFarlane was hoping he would send all six of his Cloquet golfers to the Section 7AA Meet finals.
Only three qualified for the Lumberjacks, but all three fared well.
Juniors Andrew Castle, Jack McFarlane (Tom's son) and sophomore Eric Fryc were among the 40-plus finalists last Wednesday at the Quarry at Giants Ridge. According to their coach, they were impressive.
"They played well," said Tom McFarlane, who witnessed the rest of his team bow out a week earlier in the preliminaries. "We hoped to have a few more lads up there, but that wasn't the case."
Fryc guided the 'Jacks, firing a pair of 82s to post a 14th-place finish at 164. Castle finished one stroke back in 15th at 163, while Jack McFarlane capped off the scoring in 19th at 169.
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Virginia's Dan Bidle and Hermantown's Andrew Oakes ran away from the field with their stellar total scores of 140. Virginia was the winning squad and will advance to the state meet, along with the top-five individual scorers.
Finishing within 10 spots of qualifying for state, Tom McFarlane noted a pair of his golfers had an outside shot at state.
"Eric had a good chance coming in and Andrew put together a good round, as well," McFarlane said. "They had to take some chances on the back nine and gamble a bit. They went for it, but came up a little short."
Nonetheless, McFarlane said his golfers made strides throughout the spring.
"The kids improved throughout the season," he said. "But most all of these guys have been playing varsity golf since seventh or eighth grade. They've played a lot and have the experience."
Cloquet will lose just one senior, Derek Schrecengost, as five experienced players will again put on the Lumberjack polo next spring.
"We'll miss Schrec, he was our 'Steady Eddie,'" laughed McFarlane. "But with the talent coming back, we should be able to compete. These boys are great kids. They just need to learn how to have a little more fun."
