By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Burlington High School boys golf team wants to avoid playing second banana this season.
The Demons finished second last season to Southern Lakes Conference foe Waterford on more than one occasion.
Burlington finished second in the overall conference standings. The Demons finished second in the conference tournament, and also in three of four SLC Majors.
SLC Majors are tournaments in which each team in the SLC participates. The majors take the place of dual meets.
The Demons return a strong core this season, and there is optimism for improvement.
“I’d certainly like to hope we could challenge for the conference title,” coach Bill Berkholtz said. Berkholtz is beginning his 20th season as the Demons’ head coach.
Tony Stang, a senior last season, advanced the farthest of any Demon golfer and lost a playoff at the WIAA Division 1 Lake Geneva Badger sectional for the right to advance to the 2013 State Boys Golf Tournament.
Burlington is led this season by a core of returning letter-winners. Junior Brian Dankle played as the Demons’ No. 1 last season and earned first team All-SLC honors.
“Fundamentally, he’s very sound,” Berkholtz said. “I really anticipate that this year, Brian will average in the mid- to low-70s. I think he’s that good.”
Berkholtz characterized Dankle as something of a golf gym rat who spent the summers of his youth on local courses.
“He’s really been playing quite awhile,” Berkholtz said.
Senior Ben Geiger and junior Josh Ketterhagen are also back.
“Ben is great to have on the team, too, because he has such a calming influence,” Berkholtz said. “He’s a really great, focused senior. He’s a nice kid.”
Berkholtz said Ketterhagen probably played better as a freshman than he did last season as a sophomore.
“I anticipate he’ll bounce back and play like he did two years ago,” Berkholtz said. “I think this is going to be a good year for him.”
Some new faces will round out the Demons’ starting lineup. Freshman Justin Meseberg carded a 41 over nine holes at a recent scrimmage.
“I’m hoping he can contribute tremendously this year,” Berkholtz said.
Senior Marcus Lois is in his first season with the program.
“He has some athletic ability and seems to be someone who could be in the lineup before the end of the year,” Berkholtz said.
Berkholtz said senior Alex Kruk, in his fourth season with the program, and junior Eli Miller, might also contribute.
“There seems to be a little deeper talent than we’ve had in the past,” Berkholtz said.
The talent at Waterford, Burlington’s main competition in the SLC, is also deep.
“They were very deep in their JV (junior varsity) last year,” Berkholtz said. “They had JV scores that would have beat varsity scores in our conference.”
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