Citizen Staff/James Wold
Beaver Dam's Jon Wise tees off on the seventh hole on his way to an 82 at Wednesday's LTC boys golf meet at Fire Ridge Golf Course in Grafton.
GRAFTON — Though Beaver Dam only needed to finish fourth at Wednesday's Little Ten boys golf 18-hole finale to clinch its first conference title in 14 years, the team didn't want to back into a championship.
They wanted to seize it.
Powered by a back-nine 39 from Jon Wise, who finished with an 82, the Golden Beavers (336) claimed the meet crown by five strokes over West Bend East (341).
"Awesome," BD coach Bob McIntyre said. "I don't think the kids have a complete understanding of what they did.
"They made mistakes but separated themselves from the rest of the conference at the right times."
Wise's 82 was highlighted by a rare birdie on the difficult par-5 10th hole at Fire Ridge Golf Club, par 72. His performance helped him make the LTC first-team squad.
"I definitely accomplished a goal I set out to do," Wise said. "That was nice."
For a team that was projected to finish as low as fifth in the conference, Wednesday's meet showed why it finished with four wins and 14 points — 11 ahead of Hartford — in the final standings.
Mike Larson had a consistent 84 from the No. 4 position while Ben Brooks and Justin Sutter each had 85. Tanner Brandsma's 90 was the scratch score. By comparison, only East had four golfers shoot in the 80s on a golf course that featured windy conditions and difficult pin placements.
"It was windy and it was a factor when it was blowing," said Brandsma who joined Brooks as a second-team all-conference performer. "But the greens were rolling good."
Brooks and Sutter each got going on the front side, shooting 39 and 40, respectively. Brooks' day was helped out by two birdies, including a shot to 4 feet for a birdie on the ninth hole.
But Brooks wasn't surprised by the team's success.
"I don't think we exceeded expectations," Brooks said. "Maybe just the magnitude of the win was."
Sutter, the lone senior on the squad, couldn't help but be excited.
"(A conference title) sounds pretty good to me," Sutter said. "It's a nice thing to add in my senior year."
McIntyre hopes Sutter will not be the only senior to be able to enjoy winning a conference crown.
"I want to make this team a perennial contender," McIntyre said. "The kids worked hard this year and I think that's something we can build on.
"They see what it takes to get to the next level.
While reaching a goal was nice, the team has higher aspirations starting at its Division 1 home regional next Wednesday at Old Hickory.
"It's a stepping stone," Larson said. "I think we're only going to get better."
Note: Oconomowoc's Taylor Johnson repeated as the LTC individual champion.
Little Ten Conference meet
at Fire Ridge GC, par 72
Team scores: Beaver Dam 336, West Bend East 341, Hartford 343, Slinger 344, West Bend West 347, Oconomowoc 365, Watertown 391, Wisconsin Lutheran 393.
Final standings: Beaver Dam 14, Hartford 25, Oconomowoc 34, West Bend West 35, West Bend East 39, Slinger 42, Wisconsin Lutheran 65, Watertown 70.
Beaver Dam: Wise 82, Larson 84, Brooks 85, Sutter 85, Brandsma 90 (scratch).
Medalists: Mendon, H, and Radloff, WBW, 78.
All-LTC honors
First team: Johnson, O; Radloff, WBW, Mendon, H, Olson, WBE, Wise, BD.
Second team: Wenddorf, H; Brooks, BD; Lutz, WBW; Scheid, S; Brandsma, BD.
Third team: Larson, BD; Willer, H; Cavanaugh, WBE; Hauser, WBE; Teschendorf, S.
Player of the year: Johnson, O.