HASTINGS – It looked like everything was falling into place for the Albert Lea High School boys’ golf team.

Wednesday, May 30, 2001

HASTINGS – It looked like everything was falling into place for the Albert Lea High School boys’ golf team.

Then it all fell apart.

The nine holes proved costly for the Tigers, taking them out of contention in the Section 1AA tournament at Bellwood Oaks near Hastings Tuesday.

&uot;I was real happy with the way our kids played the front nine,&uot; said ALHS coach Doug Christopherson. &uot;The 15th through 18th holes cost us a ton of strokes. They’re just four extremely difficult holes, and we didn’t play them very well.&uot;

The Tigers, in third place after nine holes, finished eighth out of 15 teams with 321 strokes. Rochester Century won with 304. Austin had 305, Owatonna 307.

Dan Breuer led the Tigers, shooting a 78. Matt Tubbs shot 79, Adam Elseth 81, Adam Boelter 83. Missing the scoring cut were Brett Wuerflein, 85; and Josh Tubbs, 89.

The bright side for the Tigers is their youth. Wuerflein was the only senior in the lineup Tuesday. Elseth is a freshman. The others are sophomores.

&uot;The fact that we played there, and we go back next year, is a good thing,&uot; said Christopherson. &uot;The kids now know where they’re not supposed to be. Once you’ve gone through it, you figure out course management is critical. The experience is worth a ton, I guarantee you.&uot;

The Tigers’ youth may have been a factor in their performance, according to Christopherson.

&uot;Since we’re so young, maybe we didn’t handle the pressure that well,&uot; said the veteran coach. &uot;But with the experience, I know we’ll handle it better in the future.&uot;