Kucera, Coulson and Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther senior Gavin Kester all turned in 84s at Mayflower Golf Club on Wednesday, tying for first place individually in the first leg of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Boys Golf Tournament.

The tournament started with a shotgun start on the nine-hole course, with each golfer playing through the nine holes twice.

With wind gusts topping out around 35 miles per hour during the meet, the SEU freshmen’s approach quickly turned into trying to keep their drives low and limit mistakes.

“Just tried to hit lower shots and just keep a right mindset about how to execute a good shot,” Coulson said.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye United’s Anders Coulson hits a tee shot during the first leg of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Boys Golf Tournament on Wednesday at Mayflower Golf Club in Fairfax.

Kucera echoed his teammates’ approach.

“I really just tried to keep it in play and I tried to keep the ball a little lower under the winds so I wouldn’t be affected as much,” Kucera said. “Just [tried to] keep it in play to not get penalty strokes.”

Coulson and Kucera led SEU to a first-place team finish in the opening leg with a 345, followed by Alden-Conger, which shot a 375 for second. Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop turned in a 383 for third, followed by Springfield (386), Cedar Mountain (389), GHEC/T/ML (407), New Ulm Cathedral (415), St. James/Madelia (424), Martin County West (427), Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (451) and Wabasso (477).

Cathedral junior Carter Wilson was as steady as he could be considering the winds, turning in an 87 to tie for fourth in the opening leg with SEU sophomore Isaac Christensen. Wilson parred six times, while Christensen had five pars and a birdie on the eighth hole.

Tying for sixth with 88s were Cedar Mountain senior Carson Schiller and Alden-Conger senior Ryan Hintz. Schiller had five pars and a birdie on the ninth hole his first time around. Hintz had six pars and birdied the third hole, which was his second hole played during the opening leg.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Carter Wilson collects his ball after sinking a putt on Hole 9 during Leg 1 of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Boys Golf Tournament on Wednesday at Mayflower Golf Club in Fairfax.

Coulson started the first leg on Hole 2 with a bogey and had six consecutive pars to keep him near the top of the leaderboard, but a bogey on Hole 9 and a rough first hole — his ninth hole of the day — saw him find trees three times and finish it with a quadruple bogey.

“Just tried to put it behind me and play the next hole better,” Coulson said.

Coulson had five pars on his back nine for 11 total on the day.

Kucera finished with nine pars on the day but never ran into the same trouble his freshman teammate faced on Hole 1 and was able to match his score as a result.

Kucera said with the conditions, he said his score wasn’t terrible but there were a few shots he’d like back. Regardless, going into the next leg of the tournament at the top of the leaderboard is a highlight and he’s looking to keep it that way after Leg 2, which takes place at New Ulm Country Club on May 4.

“Definitely want to do better with the driver,” Kucera said. “It wasn’t too bad today with the winds, but that was a little inconsistent. My irons and wedges, I wasn’t hitting as many greens as I wanted to, but it wasn’t horrible with the conditions.”

GFW’s Brenden Lee carded an 89 for eighth on the day, while SEU’s Blaine Arneson shot a 90 for ninth and GFW’s Lincoln McCue turned in a 91 for 10th.

MCW was led by Knox Larson, who carded a 93 for 11th, while Springfield was led by Colten Sell (94, 13th), Wabasso was led by Brayden Guetter (98, 18th), St. James/Madelia was led by Kolten Tande (98, 18th) and BLHS was led by Cameron McColley (109, 37th).