Resilient Witherow Rallys for the First-day Lead

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An early morning breeze increased to a slight wind for afternoon play in the Class A Boys’ 2023 State High School Golf Tournament at Pebble Creek GC in Becker. Though not of great consequence, the wind may have prevented scores from going lower than they could have on an ideally conditioned golf course. As it stood, only one player, senior Cole Witherow from New Life Academy of Woodbury, finished the round in red fingers, shooting a 2-under-par 70.

For Witherow, it has been a week of exciting play, as prior to the state high school tournament he qualified for the Minnesota State Amateur. But he has more work to do before he can add another accomplishment to this week. A good start had him looking like he might.

“It was good,” he said of his round. “I got off to a great start. The front nine was good. I had a bogey on hole No. 4, which was a little rough. I ended up in the bunker and I had an awkward shot. It got started a little dicey, but I got back. So, I was pretty happy that I got back.”

Witherow traded volleys in the early going with Brady Schwinghammer a senior from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, who held the tourney lead for much of the afternoon. Withrow made the turn on Schwinghammer’s tail but things went awry on number 10 when he made double bogey and followed it with a bogey on 11. 

“I hit my driver right in the middle,” Witherow said of his play on 10. “I was between an eight and a nine and flew the green. Trying to get up and down, I ended up getting a bad bounce. I 

I chipped a little too far and missed my putt.”

But Witherow was not alone in back nine troubles. Schwinghammer, who cobbled together three consecutive birdies on the back nine (his front nine), had vaulted into the lead in the early going. But he ran into some trouble on his 14 and 15 holes (Nos. 5 and 6), making bogey and then a double, and dropping back into a three-way tie for second. But he pulled it together for three final pars to finish at 72, even par, and tied with his playing partner Carson Boe, a Lakeview sophomore, and Hunter Schmidt, a junior from Martin County West.

“On the front I had three birdies in a row, so I was 3-under through seven holes,” Schwinghammer said. “It was the putting, all on the putting. One putt was inside 15 feet and the other two were like 40 feet.

“And then I had a little hiccup on the back, a bogey and then a double bogey. But I ended up just parring out with three pars. So, I just gotta keep going, I guess.”

Schmidt was momentarily tied with Schwinghammer at the top, but a missed par putt on the par-3 17th, costing him a chance to finish in red numbers. Schmidt put five birdies on his card, but five matching bogeys dropped him into a tie for 2nd at even par for the first day of action.

“Overall, I played solid, but it was an interesting front and solid back nine,” Schmidt said of his up-and-down day. “I just hit driver pretty well down the fairway. And when I wasn’t hitting it well, I just tried to eliminate double, walk away with bogey and head to the next hole.”

For Witherow, it was a day of resilience, after tumbling out of contention at the turn, he made three birdies in his final seven holes to grab the lead at the end, albeit only a two-stroke lead. And his competitors know it.

“Oh yeah, I’m excited. For tomorrow,” Schwinghammer said. “I feel like it’s anyone’s game right now. It’s just about who plays the best.”

The same can be said for the team event, which has four teams within 10 strokes and seven teams within 20 after the first day of play. Currently, Lakeville is in the lead at +34 with Walker-Hackensack-Akeley two strokes back (at +36, thanks in part to the 2-over-par 74 shot by sophomore Parker Brock). Filmore Central at +43 and Fertile-Beltrami at +44 fill out the top-four team. This event will surely come down to the wire on the final day of the competition.