By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
Niles bounced back Tuesday from a poor start to its season to finish second at the Bronson Invitational.
The second-place finish comes one day after the Vikings finished sixth out of ten teams at the Coloma Comet Invitational to begin their season.
Niles was led by its No. 1 golfer, senior Ben Landgraf. He shots rounds of 36 and 39 for a total of 75. The Bronson invite, however, was scored using the Stableford format.
In the Stableford format, players get points for their performance on the course. An eagle is worth three points, a birdie is worth one, par is worth zero, and players lose points for bogeys.
Landgraf's score netted him 35 points, good enough for fourth place overall. Alex Watkins of Coldwater won the invitational with 44 points and a score of 68.
Landgraf was followed by freshman Alex Welch's 30 points, junior Scott Majerek's 29 points and freshman Jeff Jurgonski's 24 points.
Landgraf also won a longest drive competition, and Welch won a closest to the pin challenge during the invitational.
Niles total score of 118 (the combination of its top four golfers) was second to Coldwater's 152. Harper Creek finished in third place with 112 points.
Gunder said his young team struggled Monday in its first match. He has four freshman players on the varsity team that hadn't played at the high school level before.
At Bronson, however, the players had a tournament under their belt and were much calmer and collected, Gunder said.
The day wasn't all fun for Gunder. Right before the invitational started, Gunder tripped over a rope that bordered the grass at Bronson. His hands were full, and he tripped and fell into some rocks.
Gunder went to the hospital, but didn't need stitches for his knee. Instead, doctors x-rayed his hands and found ruptured tendons in both. They put a splint on his left hand and taped up his right hand.
Despite the injuries, Gunder plans to be with his team today at the Kalamazoo Central Invitational.