It was more than just another golf meet Tuesday.

The Division 1 State Championship always is, but it was one last hurrah for Sheboygan North’s trio of Andrew Delong, Max Schmidtke and Austin Thyes.

AUSTIN THYES

MAX SCHMIDTKE

This is Delong’s final season as the Golden Raiders’ coach, and Schmidtke and Thyes are seniors.

“We all have developed a strong bond and unforgettable memories throughout these last four years,” Thyes said.

Schmidtke finished tied for eighth at University Ridge in Verona. He shot 74s on both days of the tournament for a 148, which was 11 strokes behind medalist Russell Dettmering of Merrill.

“Honestly, I didn’t really have a specific place in mind,” Schmidtke said. “I just wanted to keep improving like I had been the past two years. … I was very happy where I ended up and more happy I was able to enjoy my last 36 holes of high school golf.”

Schmidtke, who will golf at Illinois-Springfield next year, finished 28th at state last year as the Golden Raiders qualified as a team for the second straight season.

Thyes tied for 20th after he had a 75 on Monday and a 78 on Tuesday for a 153.

Last year, he took 25th in the meet.

“It was the third time Max and I went, so we knew the course well and how to play it,” Thyes said.
But they had never played it knowing it was their last high school meet.

For Schmidtke, that was not on his mind as much as he thought.

“I knew I was in contention to finish in a respectable position on the leaderboard, so I was still focused on playing the last 18 holes as well as I could,” he said. “But definitely on Hole 18, I got a couple of tears in my eyes walking off the fairway. Once I tapped in for a bogey and all the other guys were putting out, then everything kind of went loose and I think that’s when it finally hit me: that was the last hole I played as a Raider.”