May 10, 2011

The Royals may have just experienced a week which defines the 2011 campaign. They finished second at the Preserve Invite, second at the Tri State Invitational, and won their 19th and 20th consecutive conference matches. Along the way both the team and individual players staked a claim to key state rankings.

Underclassmen and a senior player are peaking at precisely the right moment. Filling the void left by two key individuals from the successful 2010 year was going to be a difficult task. Corey Muenzhuber, Jordan Rykal, and Morgan Rask are proving round by round they are more than capable. Corey's strong play has vaulted him into the top ten state ranking, and Jordan has premiered at No. 31 in the MN MGA poll.

Additionally, senior Phil Ballard has played the best golf of his career the last two weeks and made key scoring contributions in the Royals rise. Rogers is now ranked in both major state polls as the number two ranked team - ahead of last year's state champion Wayzata. They trail only the Eden Prairie Eagles.

Mac Buege seems to have hit his stride in 2011 by virtue of his second place finish at the Preserve, a win at Tri State, co-medaling with teammate Muenzhuber with a 70 at a home conference match, and shooting a conference and team record 6 under par 66 at Pebble Creek GC. His recent performance has him the consensus number one ranked golfer in the state.

Maintaining the high team and individual rankings is often times harder than getting there. Whether the recent performances define the year or are the highlight of it will be determined in the final half of the season. Either way, the state of Royals golf continues to shine.