Article by: Rick Pledl
Parker Etzel shot the round of his life Monday in Wisconsin Dells, propelling him to the biggest win of his burgeoning golf career just 24 hours later.
At 16, Etzel has tons more golf ahead of him, but there’s a good chance his 64 Monday – which was one stroke off the course record at Trappers Turn GC – will stand up for a while.
After that opening 64, Etzel shot 75 Tuesday at Wild Rock GC to complete his three-stroke victory in the overall boys competition at the Dells Junior Championship, an annual event organized by the Wisconsin PGA Junior Foundation.
Meantime, Jessica Guiser of Hartland won the overall girls title in a runaway. Etzel, who lives in Eau Claire, had a performance Monday that was nothing short of magical. He reeled off five birdies and two eagles over his first 17 holes on the Arbor and Lakes Courses at Trappers Turn.
When asked if he had ever shot 64 before, or if he’d ever made two eagles in a single round, Etzel smiled and answered with a firm no and no. “My lowest round previously was 70, which I’ve done a few times,” Etzel said. “I’ve just never been able to get lower than that.”
Etzel said he had a simple game plan for Monday’s opening round: After struggling with his putter last week at the WPGA Junior Championship in Milwaukee, where he tied for 22nd, Etzel simply wanted to be near the flagstick. "I was just trying to get everything close to the hole because I haven’t been making any putts,” he said. “So I was just trying to stick everything close, and I did. I didn’t have to make many long putts. I made one long one and everything else was inside 8 feet, so I had a lot 6- to 8-footers.”
After getting to 9 under par with his second eagle of the day on 17, Etzel said he heard some chatter from someone on the course that he was on pace for a course record. “And I ended up hitting my only uncommitted swing of the day, and I hit the hazard and had to take a drop,” he said. “I made a solid bogey from there, so I wasn’t mad. It was still a good score.”
And it could have been even better, as Etzel missed a 6-footer on No. 9 for what would have been another eagle. While Etzel was pulling away from most of the field, a couple other boys refused to go quietly. Aiden Cudney of Appleton shot the other under-par round of the first day with an impressive 3-under 69, which probably didn’t get the attention it deserved compared to Etzel’s score.
Cudney, who entered the final round five strokes back, had an outside chance of catching the first-round leader on Tuesday, but he shot a 73, compared with Etzel’s 75.
Thus, Etzel finished at 5-under-par 139, three strokes clear of Cudney at 142. Tyson Sparks of Muskego rallied over the final 18 to finish in third place (73-70–143).
“I was trying to stay aggressive instead of protecting my score,” Etzel said of his final-round mindset. “I just tried to keep it a match between (Cudney) and me, and I actually ended up losing the match with him today, but it was enough to get it done.”
Guiser, 15, had an easier time of it in winning the Dells Junior Championship girls title. Like Etzel, she was motivated to play well this week after a disappointing performance at the WPGA Junior Championship last week, where she tied for sixth among girls.
Guiser won the girls title with a 36-hole score of 1-over-par 145. After shooting 76 at Wild Rock Monday, she shot a fine round of 69 Tuesday at Trappers Turn in which she recorded five birdies offset by two bogeys.
“Last week I had a couple swing issues, including my distance control on putts,” Guiser said Tuesday. “So I talked to my coach, and he told me how I could fix my swing. Just listening to him I think boosted my confidence. And not playing well at the WPGA Championship really made me want to play better here.”
Guiser also said she’s been practicing her approach shots from around 120 yards of late, and that work produced good results this week in Wisconsin Dells with several short birdie putts.
“I made a good number of putts this week to cash in those birdies,” Guiser said. Guiser was 12 strokes lower than runners-up Hannah Dunk of Janesville (78-79) and Payton Haugen of Brookfield (78-79) who finished at 157. The Dells Junior Championship is presented by American Family Insurance.
