Red Devils deal a pair of Aces
Doll and Rounds "Co-MVP's"
by Kevin Hieronymus- BCR
November 20, 2008
Red Devils deal a pair of
aces
By Kevin Hieronymus
khieronymus@bcrnews.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008 12:27 AM CST
SPRING VALLEY — First year Hall coach Tom Bauer has a hard time
picking when asked who his top golfer was this year for the Red
Devils.
Senior Adam Doll led the Red Devils for much of the season, averaging a team-high 39.96 per 9 holes. Junior teammate Nick Rounds, who averaged 40.52, picked up the pace late and played his way to the state meet in Bloomington, the only area golfer to qualify.
It was too close a call for Bauer to make, so we did the choosing for him. We are going with both of Hall’s aces who led the Red Devils to the NCIC Lincoln championship, and Bauer couldn’t agree more.
“Those two were literally even almost all year,” Bauer said. “They carried our team a lot. We did some good team stuff when we had others come through with good rounds. I knew if Adam and Nick didn’t play well, we were going to be in trouble. They came through nearly every match.
“To me, they’re co-MVPs.”
Bauer said Rounds had two nice accomplishments this season — winning the Princeton Invitational and making state.
Rounds caught fire at Princeton, shooting six birdies in the front 9 at Hunter’s Ridge to take medalist honors at 74.
“He played super that day making six birdies on the front 9,” Bauer said. “He didn’t play real well on the back 9, but that’s a tough 9. Everybody struggles on that.”
The Hall junior shot an 81 to place fifth in the NCIC Meet.
At regionals, Rounds shot an 82 to place 10th at Nettle Creek as the Red Devils advanced by tiebreaker over Indian Creek with a second-place team finish.
Hall came up well short as a team at sectionals, but Rounds made it to state as the fifth individual qualifier with a round of 78 at PrairieView Golf Course in Byron.
“I’m proud how he finished the year. He made adjustments in his game the last week right before sectional and really hit the ball better,” Bauer said. “Sometimes you don’t see improvement on your score. You see improvement in your game. He saw improvement in both.”
Things didn’t go as smoothly at state as Rounds would have liked, finishing with a two-day total of 81 to place in a tie for 44th. Bauer said Rounds probably had his two worst putting rounds at state, which cost him, and would have had a top 20 finish if he had just average rounds of putting.
Still, it was a good experience to set Rounds up for a good senior year, Bauer said.
“He easily has the potential to get down there again,” Bauer said. “I’m not taking a slight on anybody else in the area, but he’s probably looking to be the top player in area. I know how hard he works at his game. I have expectations for him, and he will have exceptions for himself, too.”
Hall’s senior ace had a real doll of a season with consistency from day one. Doll was first in NCIC Lincoln scoring for the season with a perfect score of 60 points by winning or tying for first in each of his five dual meets.
He was one stroke from tying for first place at the conference meet, leading Hall with a third-place 80 with even rounds of 40 on his home course at Spring Creek. He finished with 68 1/2 conference points to earn all-conference honors.
Doll also finished strong in the L-P Invite with a 4-under his last 5 holes to place fifth in a big field of 200 kids.
“That’s some good golf,” Bauer said.
Doll placed second at regional with a round of 78. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring his “A” game with him to sectionals the next week, missing the state cut by five strokes with an 84 including a two-stroke penalty.
“I’m just as proud of Adam as I am Nick,” Bauer said. “He didn’t make it out of sectionals, but you cant judge your accomplishment for the whole season just on one round. He just didn’t quite have his game at the day of sectional, but he had a lot of great accomplishments there.”
