---

Seeking its first North Suburban Conference win, the North Branch boys’ golf team traveled to Victory Links in Blaine Wednesday, April 19. However, Irondale was unwilling to cooperate and the Vikings went home after being defeated 179-186.

“We’d never played there before, but we still have to get on the tee and hit the ball in the fairway,” said North Branch coach Tom Moriarty, refusing to use unfamiliarity with the course as an excuse.

The weather was decent earlier in the day. By the time the Vikings got on the tee box, conditions had deteriorated. The last rays of sunlight disappeared behind a gray sky, the temperature dropped and the east wind got stronger and gusts really affected ball flight.

The combination of unfamiliar surroundings and the weather seemed to cause the Vikings more problems than they were able to handle. After nearly three hours of fighting the elements, the Vikes were unable to break into the scoring column in the conference standings.

North Branch vs Irondale

Brad Peters.................. 43

Jack Williams.............. 45

Kyle Lovin.................. 48

Travis Peterson........... 50

Doug Jorgenson.......... 52

Jake Moosey............... 55

Team Total 186

Vikings at Chisago Lakes

The weather was better Wednesday, April 17, but the result was the same. In much better conditions, the Vikings lost 161-183 to the Wildcats at CL.

“The kids were really down after this loss,” said Moriarty. “They really expected to do better. They’re more familiar with the course and thought they should have scored lower. I thought we would, too.”

NB at Chisago Lakes

Brad Peters.................. 41

Travis Peterson........... 46

Kyle Lovin.................. 48

Doug Jorgenson.......... 48

Jack Williams.............. 49

Jake Moosey............... 50

Team Total 183

North Branch vs Cooper

Still looking for its first NSC win, the North Branch boys entertained the Cooper Hawks Thursday, April 27. The Vikings took advantage of nearly perfect conditions (low 70’s, partly cloudy and light winds) to play their best golf in several seasons and come away with a 156-170 win.

“This was a very important win for us. We hope this will give us a positive attitude and some confidence for upcoming meets,” said Moriarty. “We have some tough matches coming up and we needed something good to happen.”

The Vikings’ lowest score in 2005 was 159 and a 157 was their best in 2004. “I felt bad for Jack Williams. He had his best round (41) and the other kids did so well, we weren’t even able to use his score.” Travis Peterson’s 36 earned the senior medalist honors.

Cooper at North Branch

Travis Peterson........... 36

Brad Peters.................. 40

Taylor Perreault.......... 40

Doug Jorgenson.......... 40

Jack Williams.............. 41

Kyle Lovin.................. 47

Team Total 183

---