Junior Nathan Colson was the most successful. Colson finished third in the Wisconsin state amateur tournament, won the state Bestball tournament with junior Jason Gaare, and qualified as the sixth seed for the U.S. Amateur Public Links — one of the biggest amateur golf tournaments in the nation.

In what he considers to be his best performance, Colson carded a 70 in both rounds to be the top qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links.

“The second round was the best that I ever played,” Colson said. “The course was very difficult.”

Colson credits playing many rounds of golf with other amateur golfers at his home course of Whispering Springs in Fond du Lac to his success.

“I used to hit a lot of balls and not play, but playing is the best practice you can get,” Colson said.

“Nathan had an outstanding summer,” Gaare said. “He’s rededicated himself to golf, and it’s paid off.”

Gaare also put together some successful performances this summer. An Illinois native, Gaare played in Wisconsin’s summer tournaments for the first time. Besides sinking the winning putt in his and Colson’s Bestball victory, Gaare finished in the top 20 in points for Player of the Year and did not miss one cut.

“I was kind of the new rookie playing in these golf tournaments,” Gaare said. “I didn’t have high expectations because I didn’t know what to expect. It was a pleasant surprise.”

Sophomore Kyle Murphy had a productive summer as well. Murphy finished tied for eighth in the state amateur and finished 15th in the state open — the fifth-lowest amateur score. Additionally, Murphy and his father, Tim, won the state father and son tournament.

“(The tournaments) prepare you for what we’re going to do this year,” Gaare said. “We have the best team that I’ve ever played for. We have a great chance for a great season. Playing in practice is going to be competitive.

“We have a goal of making it to Regionals, and the only way we can do that is by playing on tough courses,” Murphy said. Furthermore, the golfers’ success has made more people aware of the program coach Tim Grogan is building.

“We got comments from everyone we played with, the pros and people from the Wisconsin State Golf Association about how great a job Tim is doing and how we are going to have a great team,” Murphy said.

“There’s a lot more respect for our team then there was two years ago,” Gaare said.