Krull sinks putt under pressure

Rockford senior wins playoff for medalist honors; Koob boys medalist for Nashua-Plainfield

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

NASHUA — A seven-foot putt slightly uphill can be a “Yips” tester for even the most seasoned professional.

For Rockford senior Michaela Krull, it was a whole new experience.

“I was so nervous,” Krull said after she sunk the aforementioned putt to win a playoff against Nashua-Plainfield’s Kelsey Poppe for girls medalist honors, Thursday at Nashua Town and Country Club.

After nine holes, Krull and Poppe each carded a 48 initiating a playoff on NTCC’s  par-4 first hole. Krull almost lost it — the playoff and her ball — when she sliced her tee shot. After a searching party located it, Krull’s second shot managed to get through some tree-branch interference to get back on the fairway.

Eventually, Krull scored a 5 to Poppe’s 6.

“I’ve been a medalist before, but I’ve never been in a playoff situation,” Krull said. “It feels great that I was able to come through my first time.”

With tabulated scores from teammates Sydney Fullerton (50), Madelyn Paulus and Kylee Smith (both 54), Rockford placed first (206) among N-P (214) and St. Ansgar (260).

In the boys meet featuring the same teams plus a couple golfers from Riceville, St. Ansgar posted the lowest score (181) with Jack Koster leading the Saints with a 42.

Nashua-Plainfield and Rockford both scored 187. The Huskies were led by Devin Koob’s medalist score of 39, and the Warriors were paced by Zach Westendorf’s 43.

But aside from tabulated scores from Brandon Raymer (46), Devin Auchstetter (50) and Dillon Auchstetter (52) for N-P; and from Kaden Lyman (47), Nick Goodrich (47) and Zach Bushbaum (50) for Rockfords; it was the Warriors’ fifth-place golfer — Weston Engels (52) — that decided the tiebreaker in their favor.

It was a tough pill to swallow for the hosting Huskies, who were without out-of-state senior Zach Bond.

“That probably put us back about eight strokes,” Nashua-Plainfield coach Jeff Trost said about Bond’s absence.

Koob and Bond will remain teammates after graduation as they both have signed on to continue their golfing careers at NIACC.

“They’ve been solid for us at 1 and 2, but we’re still struggling to fill that 3 and 4,” Trost said.

Boys Golf

At Nashua Town and Country Club

ST. ANSGAR (181) — Jack Koster 42, Colin Slz 45, Dylan Low 46, Garrett Koster 48, Collin Kramer 48, Sawyer Hulshizer 55.

ROCKFORD (187) — Zach Westendorf 43, Kaden Lyman 47, Nick Goodrich 47, Zach Bushbaum 50, Weston Engels 52, Wyatt Paulus 53.

NASHUA-PLAINFIELD (187) — Devin Koob 39, Brandon Raymer 46, Devin Auchstetter 50, Dillon Achstetter 52, Drew Moine 56, Matthew Stille 60.

RICEVILLE — Ben Dunn 47, Hunter Geerts 68.

Girls Golf

At Nashua Town and Country Club

ROCKFORD (206) — Michaela Krull 48, Sydney Fullerton 50, Kylee Smith 54, Madelyn Paulus 54, Theresa Jones 60, Samantha Shriever 70.

NASHUA-PLAINFIELD (214) — Kelsey Poppe 48, Hailey Schmitz 53, Megan Cerwinske 59, Haley Hillesheim 54, Kaitlyn Betsinger 62, Keagan Betsinger 65, Abby Poppe 80.

ST. ANSGAR (260) — Alex Patterson 59, Morgan Hemann 62, Marandah Scott 67, Hannah Groth 72.