The Chant golf team captured the championship at the O’Neill Invitational last Thursday. Ord shot a 349 to edge host O’Neill by a stroke. Neligh-Oakdale was third with 14 total teams at the meet.
On a windy, cold day the Chants persevered with an outstanding performance from Rowe Lilienthal. Lilienthal shot a 77 to capture the individual championship by two strokes. Caden Lytle shot an 85 for 5th place and the Chants only other medal. Tad Kovarik shot 91, Will Skibinski shot 95 and Brody Blair shot 104.
Coach Mike Bechtold said the win was possibly a stepping stone to bigger things for the Chants.
“Oddly, aside from Rowe, we didn’t play as well as we could.” Bechtold said, “So I am hopeful that we can use this as motivation to take the next step and get everyone to perform at their best. If we do, we can qualify for the state meet.”
Bechtold said winning any meet is a difficult task so the Chants should enjoy the win.
“Golf is unique in that each meet has 10-15 or more teams from different areas of the state, so it is quite a feat to beat them all. I was especially impressed with Rowe, who played great golf and hopefully is back to the form which sent him to state last year.”
Bechtold noted that Caden Lytle has had a great year so far.
“Caden has made some great strides and has been consistently at the top of tournaments so far this year.”
The Chants have finished in the top three at all three invites this year.
“We have a team with enough talent to make some noise, so if we work hard at our craft for the rest of the year, good things can happen.”