Ashton Lloyd sends a divot flying during Section play at New Prague on June 8. Lloyd would lead his BEA teammates to a fourth place finish at the State Golf Tournament last week. Lloyd, a sophomore, tied for sixth place among all individuals competing at State.

The Blue Earth Area boys golf team finished fourth at the two-day State Golf Tournament held at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.

Cloquet won the tournament with a two-day team total of 598. Totino-Grace was second with 616 and Delano took third with 618. BEA’s team score was 621.

It was the best finish the Bucs have had in four consecutive appearances at State. They also competed in 2017, 2018 and 2019. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The top individual performance turned in by the Bucs came from sophomore Ashton Lloyd, who was one of two underclassmen on the team.

Lloyd combined a first round score of 78 with an even-par round of 72 for a total of 150.

Lloyd’s score earned him a tie for sixth place. Cloquet’s Sam Baker was the medalist with a two-day total of 141.

Braden Gudahl recorded the second lowest score for the Bucs. The senior lefty carded an 80 on the second day of the meet after opening the tournament with a first-round score of 73 for a two-day total of 153. Gudahl finished in 13th place as an individual.

The third score used by the Bucs came from senior Gavin Storbeck, who was making his first appearance at the State Tournament.

Storbeck shot an 82 during first-round play and then shaved six strokes off of his score on the second day for a score of 76. His two-day total of 158 put him in a tie for 33rd in the individual portion of the tournament.

Senior Manning Lane contributed the final score to the team total. Lane shot a 79 the first day and an 81 on the second day for a total of 160 and a tie for 36th as an individual.

Junior Nate Murphy recorded rounds of 88 and 95 to finish with a total of 183.

Senior Max Ehrich had an opening round of 97 and finished with a score of 104 in the second round for a total of 201.

It was the last high school action for seniors Ehrich, Gudahl, Lane and Storbeck.