Jul. 14—MITCHELL — Ryan Huber hadn’t competed in the Mitchell city golf tournament in over a decade.
But he knew he was golfing well this summer, so with his wife and daughter out of town for a swimming competition, he realized he had “nothing else going on” and signed up to play.
It proved a winning decision.
Huber shot 4-under 140 at the two-day, 36-hole event at Lakeview Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday to claim a first-place finish.
“It’s very shocking, to be honest with you,” Huber said. “There are a ton of really good golfers in this town, and I don’t consider myself one. I think maybe I’m a top-10 player, but I’m surely not the best in town. But for these two days I was, and I played good golf.”
Huber, who now boasts three city titles as a former Dakota Wesleyan standout, used a consistent effort to win, shooting a 69 on Day 1 and a 71 on Day 2.
He leapt out to a strong start Saturday, shooting six-under par through 15 holes, but stumbled down the stretch, double-bogeying on hole 18 to trail Eric Hieb by a stroke through Day 1.
On Sunday, elite play in the back nine helped Huber retake the lead. He made par seven times and birdied twice on his final holes. His biggest shot came on hole 16, when he birdied to take a one-stroke lead. He finished par on hole 17 and 18 to maintain the lead.
“I didn’t make any mistakes,” Huber said. “And that’s the big thing. You keep it out of the water, you keep it from going out of bounds. Keep your ball in front of you, and you’re not going to screw up too badly. And that’s kind of what happened.”
Hieb finished the championship flight in second with a 142, while Max Dailey placed third with a 144. Brian Eliason shot a 146 to place fourth and Caleb Johnson notched a fifth-place finish by shooting a 149.
Amanda Schelske won the women’s flight by 17 strokes, shooting a 148. Ava Eliason came in second with a 165 and Anna Eliason was third, hitting a 168.
Keith Reiners’ 156 won the presidential flight, while Cody Miles shot a 154 to win the first flight, Justin Greenway posted a 155 to win the second flight and Blake Durham won the third flight with a 171.
Wade Moody won the senior first flight with a round of 153 and Gary Jackson clinched the second senior flight with a 161. In the 12-and-under girls junior flight, Kate Schutz hit a 48 through nine holes to win, and Brooks Aadland won the boys 12-and-under with a 47.
