Staff photo by Travis Rosenau From left to right: Cal Wedmore, Tom Steinbach, Paul Wessel, Ted Skillings and Dave Hansen pose for a photo after winning the 2021 Schell’s Bottle Cap Open on Monday at the New Ulm Country Club.

NEW ULM — The team of Tom Steinbach, Dave Hansen, Ted Skillings, Paul Wessel and Cal Wedmore turned in a score of 128 to finish first at the 2021 Schell’s Bottle Cap Open on Monday at the New Ulm Country Club.

The weather conditions were great for golf on Monday, with an easy breeze and a high of 84 degrees.

Skillings said it was his first Bottle Cap Open win, and he was glad he could contribute to the team’s success.

“It was great weather, it was a great day to be out here,” Skillings said. “I’ve been working really hard on my game and it was nice to contribute to my team. And we had a great captain in Tom Steinbach. All of us played really well. We just made the putts we needed to and we did what we needed to do to get it done.”

Taking second at the tournament with a score of 131 was the team of John Evenson, Eric Converse, Randy Ashinger, Nick Meyer and Jeff Schone. Jake Holm, Nick Metzker, Mike Bornhoft, Doug Bode and Mitch More turned in a 132 to finish third at the event, while Peter Guggisberg, Mike Schugel, Tom Portner, Bob Weber and David Vorwerk turned in a 133 to take fourth.

Skillings added that his team’s putting guided them throughout the day and they overcame a tough ninth hole.

“We were definitely hot putters,” he said. “And we were just stacking our birdies when we needed to. We didn’t drive the ball too great, but we definitely scrambled well. We had a little hiccup on No. 9 where our A and B players doubled that, and we parred it on a long putt. But we were able to bounce back from that, and it was just an awesome experience.”

The team of Glenn Peters, Jim Meyer, Jacob Haag, Randy Wiltscheck and Josh Sabatino finished fifth with a 134, while Brian Patterson, Paul Holm, Jim Senske, Mike Maloney and Chad Schmidt finished sixth with a 134. Taking seventh with a 134 was the team of Jeff Ferrell, Jerry Boddy, Justin Weinberg, Ted Marti and Eric Bode, while the team of Josh Wolkerstorfer, Ken Paa, Jim Gibbons, Tim Kohn and Kyle Marti took eighth with a 135. Finishing ninth was the team of Rod Swenson, John O’Hare, Steve Henderson, Ron Schmitz and Kevin Loverude with a 135.

SCHELL’S BOTTLE CAP OPEN SCRAMBLE/GAMES

Low Scramble: T1. (67) Randy Ashinger, Nick Meyer and Jeff Schone. T1. (67) Mike Bornhoft, Doug Bode & Mitch More. T3. (68) Ted Skillings, Paul Wessel and Cal Wedmore. T3. (68) Jim Gibbons, Tim Kohn and Kyle Marti. Low Best Ball: 1. (60) Tom Steinbach and Dave Hansen. T2. (61) Jeff Ferrell and Jerry Boddy. T2. (61) Rod Swenson and John O’Hare. Longest Putt #9: Dick Price. Closest to the Pin #10: Ted Marti. Longest Drive #18: Terry Johnson.