In this series of photos, Blue Earth Area golfer Ashton Lloyd shows the kind of power he generates when teeing off with his driver. Lloyd shot the lowest score during the first round of the Section 2AA Golf Meet held in New Prague on Wednesday, May 31.

The first round of the Boys Section 2AA Golf Tournament was held on Wednesday, May 31, at the New Prague Golf Club with 14 teams competing for the opportunity to qualify for the State Golf Tournament.

The top four teams from the first round will play the second and final round at New Prague on Tuesday, June 6.

Holy Family was sitting in first place with a first round team score of 299. Southwest Christian was in second with 313 while St. Peter was third with 315. Grabbing the final spot to move on to the second round of play was Blue Earth Area with a score of 321.

BEA’s Ashton Lloyd had the low score for the day. He had a 37 on the front nine and then finished his round with a 35 on the back nine for an even-par 72 on the 18-hole course.

Lloyd had two eagles, one on the par-5 first hole and the other on the par-5 13th hole. He also had birdies on the par-4 10th hole and the par-4 17th hole. He also tallied eight pars on the day.

“Ashton simply overpowered the course today,” BEA boys’ golf coach Travis Armstrong said. “He was aggressive in his selection of clubs and in the way he attacked the holes. He had a good day.”

Eli Blagg had the second lowest score for the Bucs. He shot a 39-39-78 to finish in a four-way tie for 11th place.

Blagg had birdies on holes No. 2 and No. 18, both par-4 holes. He also had a team-high nine pars.

Finishing in a four-way tie for 23rd was Kyren Sunken with a 44-41-85. Sunken had a birdie on the par-4 16th hole along with five pars.

Hunter Viland and Max Loge tied each other for 27th place. Viland’s score of 37-49-86 featured three birdies and six pars.

Loge shot a 41-45-86 with one birdie and five pars.

Rounding out the Bucs’ golf team was Jackson Blondin who finished 30th with a 44-47-91. His round included four pars.

Tee off time for the final round is 9 a.m.

Lloyd finished in 52nd place in last year’s State Tournament. In 2021, Lloyd placed seventh overall in the individual competition at the State Meet.