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Monday, April 17 the North Branch boys’ golf team boarded the bus for the Minneapolis Golf Club to play the St. Louis Park Orioles. After an opening season 169 at home, the Vikings fell to the Orioles 165 to 195.

It’s been a long time since North Branch has recorded a score that high, according to Viking head coach Tom Moriarty. The coach felt that his players were probably a little intimidated by the surroundings as well as the course.

“We really struggled with the greens. They were really fast,” Moriarty said. The speed of the greens was particularly tough to deal with at this time of year. The North Branch golf course greens the team had practiced on during the early season were significantly longer and slower than they will be later in the year.

“We also had trouble with all the hills. Our kids aren’t used to getting all the uphill, downhill and sidehill lies that they found themselves in. We don’t get much chance to practice those kind of shots. We have to do a better job of adjusting to the conditions on all the new courses we’re playing this year,” the coach added.

NB scores vs St. Louis Park

Travis Peterson 48

Kyle Lovin 48

Jake Moosey 49

Brad Peters 50

Taylor Perreault 54

Doug Jorgenson 56

The Vikings were scheduled to play in more familiar surroundings in their next meets. Wednesday, April 26, they played at Chisago Lakes and host Robbinsdale-Cooper Thursday, April 27 at 3:45.

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