Holy Family sophomore Rudi Heitz shot even-par 72 in the second round of the Class 3A state tournament Tuesday at Spring Valley in Elizabeth, forging a 12th-place overall individual finish to help the Tigers to an eighth-place team showing.
Heitz was one of the stars of the field on day two of the event — as one of just six players to shoot even or better. The only blemish on his card after three birdies and 14 pars was an 8 on the par-5 18th which took him out of the red. However, the round was a remarkable bounce-back from Monday’s 79.
The Tigers were able to maintain a strong team position in large part because of another improved second round, this one from Ben Achziger. After carding an 83 on Monday, Achziger turned around and fired a 76 on Tuesday that included two birdies and a 36 on the coming-in stretch of his final round. Drake Krommenhoek’s 82 was good for 42nd place, as well.
Back toward the top, Prospect Ridge’s Caden Koole was calm and collected as he rounded out respectable two-round score of 152 which placed him 14th. Koole had three birdies through his first 14 holes Tuesday, but ran into a killer of a hole on the par-5 16th where he carded a 9. Nevertheless, the PRA senior capped a fine career with a young program.
Fellow Miners senior Jason Arbuckle went 79-81 in the two rounds to finish 34th.
