Not much of a surprise, Cathedral’s Owen Strei continued where he left off last season as he was the boys medalist Tuesday with a 2-over-par 38. Strei was a Class A state tournament golfer last season and averaged a nine-hole score of 41.

On Tuesday, Strei birdied the first and fifth holes and had a par on four other holes.

Fellow senior teammate Will Marti wasn’t too far behind Strei as he carded a 43 to finish second.

While the Greyhounds’ senior duo occupied the top two scores, the Chargers were consistent enough all-around to pull put the win, led by MVL sophomore Philip Lukasek, who turned in a 44 to finish third. His senior teammate James Osterman carded a 46 for fourth. Osterman had birdies on the second and seventh holes.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Annika Lowrey tees off from the second hole during a nonconference golf opener against New Ulm Cathedral on Tuesday at the New Ulm Country Club.

MVL seniors Nathaniel Lukasek and Cooper Pavelchik tied for fifth with a 47, while Cathedral’s Mason Wilmes shot a 48 for seventh.

“They had played at JWP last week and then they came back today and I thought they did well,” MVL head coach Craig Morgan said of his boys. “It’s a young group that we have. The sophomores that we have, Philip Lukasek, he ended up shooting a 44, which was good for us, good for him. His brother came in with a 47 and James Osterman a 46, so those were good scores. Philip’s one of those guys that could score sub 40s in another week or two.”

MVL sophomore Owen Birkholz turned in a 51 to place eighth, while Cathedral’s Joe Gillis and Carter Wilson shot a 52 and 53, respectively, to round out the top 10 boys scores.

Gillis, a senior who went out for his first year of varsity golf this year, hooked his first drive left of the fairway on Hole 1. Gillis was quoted saying, “Layups are for basketball,” before shaping his next shot through some trees and back onto the fairway. Moments later he placed a long putt within 2 feet of the hole to narrowly miss a birdie and then finished his first varsity hole of golf with a par. Phillip Lukasek also had a long putt during the first hole but sank his for a par.

The MVL girls, boasting a full lineup of juniors, saw Kara Hinrichsen finish as the girls medalist on Tuesday with a 51, just ahead of Cathedral sophomore Emma Hoffmann, who shot a 53 for second.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Emma Hoffmann pitches the ball onto the green on the first hole during a nonconference golf opener against Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Tuesday at the New Ulm Country Club.

“Kara’s done a nice job,” Morgan said. “She’s played a lot more over the summer and the shots I saw from her, she was making some nice shots. She got some distance on her drives and then she had nice tough around the green and kept her putts down.”

MVL’s Emma Beussman shot a 57 for third, while Cathedral’s Elissa Ries carded a 59 to tie for fourth with MVL’s Annika Lowrey and Scarlet Heldt. MVL’s Eden Grubbs shot a 62 for seventh, while teammate Carmella Joshi turned in a 65, Cathedral’s Chloe Gilles shot a 72 and Cathedral’s Peyton Weisbrich rounded out the top 10 with a 76.

While having some experience back with their juniors, the Chargers are also down six girls golfers from last season and Morgan said he wants to see them continue to get work in and get their scores down even more throughout the year.

“They’ve got to take another step and if they put a little more time into it on the range and around the putting green, I think these scores are going to drop down pretty well, too,” Morgan said.

Cathedral is at Sleepy Eye for a meet on Thursday, while MVL takes on Madelia in a meet at St. James Golf Course on Thursday.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Joe Gillis putts on the first hole at the New Ulm Country Club on Tuesday.