Helias’ Todd Schonhardt gave himself a great birthday present Wednesday.
Schonhardt hit a hole in one on his 18th birthday with a pitching wedge on the par-3 10th hole at Lake of the Woods Golf Course.
“It went a little left, it went a little right, it took one hop and spun back into the cup,” Schonhardt said. “Considering this is my first one, it’s awesome.”
Despite the shot, Hickman defeated the Crusaders 308-316.
Brett Prenger, a Helias junior varsity player, shot a 2-over-par 73 and finished as medalist. Hickman’s Kyle Kovar and Drew Wier, a junior varsity player, shot 75s to tie for second.
Prenger, a senior, had plenty of motivation to play well. Going into the match, he was the Crusaders’ No. 6 player. Prenger’s performance put him in the No. 5 spot on varsity.
“It will put me up at five man and we’ve got one more match on the year,” Prenger said. “Hopefully I can finish up strong and finish the year on varsity.”
Prenger said the weather presented a formidable challenge.
“To open the day it was worse by far,” Prenger said. “Once the winds died down, the course played a little easier. The greens slowed down so I could throw some shots at the pins and make a couple putts.”
Hickman’s D.J. Chung shot a 77 while Josh Brady and Chris Johnson shot 78 for the Kewpies.
Schonhardt had a 77 for Helias.
Chung said the weather made scores high for both teams.
“It was really windy, and that effects our shots,” Chung said. “It also really messes with your putting because you’re not sure if the wind is going to move the ball underneath you and you’re falling over while you’re putting.”
Kovar said two good bogeys were key to his play.
Kovar made bogeys with 40-foot shots on the 14th and 15th holes.
Hickman coach Clark Swisher said he was happy with the performance the Kewpies put together after competing for the third time in as many days.
“It’s difficult to play three days in a row,” Swisher said. “I think our kids progressed and played well for three days. Today we shot our most consistent score as a team. I think that they’re about where they need to be” for going into the district tournament.