But just like the gusty first leg of the tournament on April 22, Sleepy Eye United’s Nolan Kucera kept his shots low and score low as a result.

Kucera had an 18-hole score of 3-over-par 74 during the second leg of the tourney to take first on the day and claim sole possession of first place individually for the tournament. He also led the SEU boys to a second consecutive first-place finish in the tournament with a team score of 333.

The Alden-Conger boys took second Monday with a 354, followed by Cedar Mountain (367), Springfield (378), Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthtrop (381), Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther (391), New Ulm Cathedral (393), St. James/Madelia (413), Martin County West (418), Wabasso (434) and Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (442).

Wind speeds reached 27 miles per hour Monday afternoon and hovered between 20 to 25 miles per hour throughout the second leg of the tournament.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye United’s Blaine Arneson chips a shot onto the green during the second leg of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Boys Golf Tournament at New Ulm Country Club on Monday.

For Kucera, keeping his shots low and out of the wind wasn’t a big deal for him to begin with. His score, which was five shots ahead of Alden-Conger’s Ryan Hintz, who carded a 79 to finish as the second-place golfer on the day.

“That’s just my normal swing, just keep it low,” Kucera said. “So it just helps being my natural swing.”

Kucera parred his first two holes of the day and had birdies on the fourth hole and ninth hole, giving him a 1-over par 37 the first nine holes. He finished with a birdie on the 18th hole to wrap up his day with three birdies, nine pars and six bogeys.

“My driver [helped the most],” Kucera said. “I used to be struggling with that a lot, but today I finally figured it out. I started hitting fairways.”

Taking third on Monday was St. James/Madelia’s Laiken Melzer with an 82, while SEU’s Blaine Arneson shot an 83 for fourth and SEU’s Anders Coulson carded an 85 for fifth.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Cedar Mountain’s Carson Schiller watches a shot of his on the 16th hole during the second leg of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Boys Golf Tournament at New Ulm Country Club on Monday.

Cedar Mountain’s Carson Schiller rebounded from some tough drives to finish with an 86, tied for sixth with MCW’s Knox Larson.

“I was kind of scrambling all day, and my bad holes were really bad,” Schiller said. “That can’t happen if you want to shoot lower scores. I didn’t feel like I played too bad today, but those bad holes turned really bad quick.”

Schiller had two birdies early on, one on the first hole and one on the third, but he finished the front nine with three double bogeys, had one double bogey on Hole 12 and a triple bogey on the 17th hole to drop him in the standings. His two birdies and six pars on the day, however, kept him in front enough to keep him in the top 10.

“I hit the fairway on both of those [birdies] and that was kind of the problem for me today was I wasn’t hitting fairways,” Schiller said. “So I was having to punch out and scrambling a lot. I think when I can hit the fairway, it helps me out a lot to get a clear shot into these greens.”

GHEC/T/ML’s Gavin Kester, who tied with Kucera and Coulson for first during the opening leg of the tournament at Mayflower Golf Club in Fairfax, carded an 87 on Monday to tie for eighth with Alden-Conger’s Trent Ignaszewski. Cathedral’s Jack Griebel grabbed the 10th spot with an 89, while GFW’s Cole Jacobson shot a 90 for 11th and SEU’s Eli Christensen and Isaac Christensen each had 91s to tie for 12th with Springfield’s Dylan Simonson. Cathedral’s Carter Wilson, Cedar Mountain’s Thomas Dahmes and Alden-Conger’s Toby Soost carded 92s to tie for 15th, while Springfield’s Tayte Zihlke, GHEC/T/ML’s Jevin Garry, Wabasso’s Brayden Guetter and Cedar Mountain’s Isaac Potter shot 93s to tie for 18th.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Tayte Zihlke watches a tee shot of his during the second leg of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Boys Golf Tournament at New Ulm Country Club on Monday.

For the tournament, Kucera has 59 points, while Coulson is second with 55 points and Hintz is third with 53.5 points. Kester is in fourth with 51.5 points, while Schiller and Arneson are tied for fifth with 49 points.

SEU leads as a team with 20 points and is followed by Alden-Conger (18), GFW (18), Springfield (14) and Cedar Mountain (14).

The final leg of the boys tournament will take place at Fairmont’s Roselake Golf Club at 10 a.m. on May 11. Tournament points will be worth double the final round.

*Note: Due to limited space in Tuesday’s print issue of The Journal, this story and its photos will print in Wednesday’s edition of The Journal