Milford junior Zephyr Mowinkel finished his record-setting season May 27 and 28 in the Class B state golf tournament at Scottsbluff, finishing in a tie for fifth place.
Mowinkel shot a 78-75 153 at the Scotts Bluff Country Club. Coach Chaise Vegas said Mowinkel had never played the course before his practice round May 26.
“As you go out west to play golf, you just know you will be playing in the wind; the only question is how hard will it be blowing. It was probably 20-25 MPH each day,” Vegas said. “The course was in fantastic shape, greens were small and hard to stop the ball if you missed the fairway.”
After day one, Mowinkel was tied for 13th. Vegas said he had a couple shots that cost him four strokes, but he was still in medal contention.
“There were so many tee balls that ended up about 3-5 yards off the fairway but that completely changed the way he had to attack his approach shots. We had to change our mindset some on day two,” he said.
On the second day, Mowinkel wanted to be +3 or better after the seventh hole and was +2. As they walked to the eighth tee, Vegas said Mowinkel was focused on playing even par the rest of the round to ensure a medal.
“He made a huge par putt on hole 12 which kept him in contention of that,” the coach said.
By hole 14, Mowinkel was two strokes out of second place.
“The field was going backwards, and he just maintained and stayed steady and moved up the leaderboard,” Vegas said.
Vegas said the two-day tournament is a grind, especially the second day.
“It takes a lot of mental toughness when you aren’t hitting greens and continuously having to get up and down,” he said.
Mowinkel competed hard both days, despite not having his best game, Vegas said.
“He held a good attitude the entire week and it resulted in a top 5 finish,” he said. “Getting a medal at state is extremely difficult especially in a loaded Class B field.”
Mowinkel finished the season with his name etched on the MHS record books. Among his accomplishments are:
• two-time state medalist
• school record season average of 75
• four wins on the season, adding to his school record
• school record round of 67 at Sutton
