By By ERIKA PICKLES / Vigilant/Argus
NILES - The Niles varsity golf team opened its season Monday morning at the Coloma Invitational held at Lake Michigan Hills Golf Course.
The Vikings finished third out of ten teams, only missing second place, which was taken by Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central, by two strokes.
Host Coloma finished eighth, while South Haven took first place honors.
Edwardsburg finished the tournament with a team score of 474 to place ninth.
Khris Merrill lead the Eddies with an 83.
Ryan Stoneburner had an 84, James Hentz and Ryan Morrell-Peters both finished with a 99, Tanner Leininger shot a 109 and Mike Fantetti shot a 112.
Leading the way for the Vikings was Andy Welch, who shot a 76.
Scott Majerek shot an 81, Chris Haase an 84, Jeff Jurgonski and B.J. Wolnick both with an 85 and Nick Horn with a 94 for Niles.
Total team scores
1. South Haven 398
2. Kalamazoo Hackett 409
3. Niles 411
4. Plainwell 426
5. Allegan 445
6. Parchment 450
7. Schoolcraft 460
8. Coloma 466
9. Edwardsburg 474
10. St. Joseph 487