Decorah starts trek to state meet Friday

The Decorah Vikings were close, but that's not good enough.

After a third-place finish at last year's state meet, coming within three shots of first, the Vikings boys' golf team has been driven to return to the Iowa HIgh School Athletic Association Class 3A state golf meet and improve on the 2010 outcome. Decorah opens the postseason Friday with 3A sectional meet at Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Charles City. Teams in 1a, 2A and 3A compete in sectional meet, trying to advance to next week's district competition.

The Vikings have brought a blue-collar work ethic to this season and they have been motivated by last year's state performance.

"Their work ethic has been tremendous," Decorah coach Rich Gaard said. "One of their goals is to gt back to the state tournament and hopefully continue on and do better than what they did last year."

Decorah has only one blemish this season, ascending to the No. 1 spot in the latest Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association 3a rankings. Three juniors - Nick Nelson, Sam Lewey and Maynard Newhouse - return from that state tournament squad and have provided leadership to a team receiving strong contributions from sophomores Michael Peter, and Peter Kephart and freshman Bryce Pierce.

"From a coaches point of view, I couldn't ask for anything more," Gaard said. "They continue to work hard."

A strong camaraderie has brought the team together and the lingering chemistry with former teammates also produces motivation. The quest for a state title this season serves as a tribute to last year's seniors too.

"We still feel as if they're part of the team," said Nelson, who tied for 12th with Washington's Joseph harris said. "We want to win it for them."

Nelson has been at the forefront of the Vikings success. He is ranked No. 1 in the IHSGCA 3A individual rankingfs with an adjusted nine-hole average of 37.75. He is carrying on Decorah's rich traditiion, which includes two-time satte champion and Drake golfer Cody Schweinefus and last year's state runner-up Andrew Peter. Nelson said he grew up witnessing Schweinefus' title run and is best friends with Peter, his former teammate.

"It does feel they did hand me the baton," Nelson said. They really started something. You want to keep it going."

Similar to his team's approach, Nelson said he has grown this season due to hours of practice, identifying and correcting what goes wrong during rounds. Experience has also been key for Nelson, who has started since his freshman season.

"It's unbelieveable the maturity level from sophomore to junior year," Nelson said. "In terms of the mental game that helps out, too."

Nelson admits that the team has been a pleasant surprise this season. The talent was there but with three new regular varsity players the team was unproven. Their work has allowed them to pick up from where last year's team left off.

"I figured this would kind of be our rebuilding year," Nelson said. "We just kept rolling."

All that could be for naught if they don't perform the same way in the postseason. Gaard warned his players to forget about prior accomplishments, because all that counts now is sectional play.

"I told them they've had a really good seasoni so far, but that's in the past now," Gaard said. "Now, we start (postseason) tournaments tomorrow and it's like a new season.

"Work that much harder and don't be complacent about what they've done already this season."