The Le Mars boys' golf team struggled their way to an eighth place finish at the Lakes Conference Tournament on Monday afternoon.

Conference-leading Spencer won the tournament with a 305 and was led by medalist Jay Monahan who finished with a 1-under par 71. The Tigers also placed four on the all-conference team. Emmetsburg placed second with a 306 and also had four golfers named to the all-conference team. Spirit Lake was third with a team total of 322 and had one all-Lakes Conference team member.

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Cherokee finished with a 334 and had the tournament runner-up in Brock Benson who finished three-over par with a 74 over 18 holes.

The Bulldogs edged out last-place finisher Estherville - Lincoln Central 348-368 to finish eighth.

"I think we might have been a little tired, the boys had prom this weekend," said Le Mars' Terry Lane. "I think we could make all kinds of excuses but we, as a team, did not play very well."

Le Mars were led by their nucleus of young golfers and at the helm were sophomore Tanner Dowling and freshman Jeremy Bohlke. Dowling had a tremendous start to his day by firing a 39 on the first nine holes while Bohlke came in with a 43. Dowling carded a 44 on the backside and Bohlke finished with a 40 as they both finished with an 83.

Keaton Rowe recorded a 43 after nine holes and stayed steady with a 45 to finish the day with an 88. Devon Dembinksi was the last counted a 48-46 to end the day with a 94.

Senior Nate Miller started hot with a 45 on the front nine but struggled on the back side of the course, shooting a 50 as he recorded a 95 on his scorecard. Fellow senior Ryan Rolfes fired a 44-51 and also scored a 95 but their scores did not count towards the team standings.

"Our younger kids had some success and our older players didn't - no one is more disappointed in them. That's just the way it works sometimes," said Lane. "Unfortunately for them, it's a tough way to finish their senior year as far as conference goes."

The Bulldogs will next be in action on Friday when they travel to Storm Lake for sectionals starting at 10 a.m.

With the next few days off of duals, Le Mars will have a chance to take advantage of forecasted golfing weather this week.

"It's a chance for us to get out and work on the phases of the game that is causing us problems," said Lane. "I know that Nate had a couple of out of bounds and had a couple of bad breaks so we can work on that. In golf, one bad thing just leads to another - it just happens.