Story originally printed in the Holmen Courier or online at www.holmencourier.com
Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
Kube paces golfers again with regionals on tap
Holmen High School golfer Sam Kube continued his late-season surge with a 4-over-par 76 at Monday's Mississippi Valley Conference finale, with Holmen getting ready to begin its quest to advance in the postseason Tuesday in Reedsburg.
Kube had 10 straight rounds in the 70s at one point a year ago, but Kube entered May of this season without such a round. He ended that streak by winning individual honors May 5 at Hiawatha in Tomah, and extended that to Monday, where his round was good for second individually and one stroke behind Sparta's Ethan Schmitz.
“I'm not completely sure why I've been better lately,” Kube said. “But I have been playing with more confidence and my short game has been a lot better. I haven't been making as many mistakes and have been doing a better job of keeping it in play.”
Kube and his teammates got to play Brown Deer Park Friday, the home of the former Greater Milwaukee Open, at the Whitefish Bay Invitational. Holmen finished exactly at the middle of the field, ninth among 17 teams, with a 44-over 332.
Billy Pearse and James DeBoer paced the Vikings individually at 9-over 81. Kube shot 84, while Brandon Temte shot 86.
“It was a really nice course; it was exciting to play a PGA Tour course,” Kube said. “It was long and tight, and that's a tough combination. That and the (La Crosse) Country Club are the two nicest courses I've played.”
HHS head coach Paul Laxton said, “We're not used to 450-yard par-4s. The greens were perfect, but you weren't getting any roll on your drives.
“But we still could have cut six or seven strokes easily. We definitely deserved to be playing with that level of teams.”
Kube says his game doesn't necessarily fit a course like Brown Deer Park. Onalaska and Middleton tied for the top spot among sectionals teams at Brown Deer Park at 38-over 326.
“I have a pretty good short game,” Kube said. “I've been hitting more fairways and greens and giving myself a better chance to score well.”
Monday's round allowed Holmen to officially clinch second in the league for a second straight year. The Vikings also tied for second in the MVC in 2005. HHS entered the year hoping to challenge Onalaska for league honors.
“The goal was first,” Laxton said. “But second is nothing to complain about.”
Holmen begins the postseason with regionals Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Reedsburg Country Club. The Vikings haven't finished behind anybody in the regional field in a match other than Onalaska, Sparta or Reedsburg thus far this season, with the top four teams advancing.
HHS finished one stroke behind Reedsburg at the April 19 Sparta Invitational, but also finished 69 strokes ahead of the Beavers at the April 21 Wisconsin Dells invite. The only other non-MVC school in the field is Baraboo, who finished 14 shots behind Holmen April 19 and 85 shots behind the Vikings at the Dells.
“A few years ago just getting the team through and making it to sectionals would have been accpetable, but we want to finish first or second this year and be in that final group at sectionals,” Laxton said. “That allows you to keep your eyes on the leader and gets you into a little bit of a match-play situation at times.”
Kube said. “We're capable of a deep run. Whether we can put it together is the question. The ultimate goal is to get to state and do well there.”
All stories copyright 2006 Holmen Courier and other attributed sources.