The weather for the Dodge Point Golf Invitational on Saturday was notably cold, with golfers facing wind chill temperatures in the mid- 30s accompanied by a persistent 15 mph wind throughout the day. Despite these challenging conditions, Drew Aschliman of Mineral Point delivered an impressive performance, posting an even-par 70 to secure medalist honors by five strokes ahead of Ben Thill from Cuba City, who recorded a score of 75.
Cuba City won the team event shooting a 322, three shots better than second place Dodgeville at 325. Platteville finished third at 327 while Mineral Point finished in fourth place shooting a team score of 332.
In challenging conditions, only seven golfers managed to score below 80. Four competitors tied for third place with scores of 78: Avari Steiner from Argyle/Pecatonica, Levi Johns representing Cuba City/SW, Aidan Wilson of Lancaster, and Cole Herbst of Platteville. Nate Blalock from Dodgeville finished with a score of 79.
There was excitement on the 15th hole during the Invitational when Platteville’s Ty Simmons recorded a hole-in-one.
“I was very impressed with our scores from the day,” said Dodgeville Head Coach Logan Thole. “The cold and wind definitely factor into the round, and players were able to stay focused and score well.”
Asked if he was surprised at his team’s consistent scores in tough conditions. “There was not one player who surprised me with their score. My hope for them was to average an 85 or lower with the conditions, and they exceeded that expectation.”
“I am excited for this group moving into the season. I think we surprised some of our conference and non-conference opponents with our score on Saturday, and I’m hoping we can stay consistent as a team and show that we are capable of bringing home a conference championship,” said Thole.
Argyle/Pecatonica Head Coach Chuck Chandler said, “Welcome to Spring weather golf conditions in Wisconsin. Wow, it was brutal. Temps were in the high 30s with 20 mph wind. We also had ice pellets fall a couple times during play. For Avari to score 78 was really good. I didn’t think there would be too many kids, if any would break 80 but several kids did. There was even a holein-1 by a kid from Platteville. We had 2 kids playing in their 1st varsity event, so it was a learning experience for them. Golf is hard enough in perfect conditions. Good luck shooting a low score in those conditions as a rookie to varsity golf.”
Of the 14 competing schools, area schools saw Argyle/Pec finish in 7th, Barneveld 8th, River Valley 9th, and Iowa-Grant finished last.
2026 Dodge Point Invitational Area Scores (Team scores based on top four golfers)
Cuba City/SW – 322 (1st Place Team)
Ben Thill 35-40-75
Isaac Wiegman 40-41-81
Levi Johns 36-42-78
Hudson Kieler 41-49-90
Landon Loeffelholz 40-48-88
Dodgeville-325 (2nd Place Team)
Connor Hottmann 40-41-81
Nate Blalock 38-41-79
Luke Bender 41-41-82
Jaden Mallon 44-44-88
Owen Wiegel 41-42-83
Mineral Point-332
Drew Aschliman 35-35-70 (Medalist)
Gaige Godfrey 41-39-80
Gage Federman 49-43-92
Suttyn Weinbrenner 43-52-95
Brady Haas 42-48-90
Argyle/Pec – 355
Avari Steiner 37-41-78
Cohlman Schlimgen 42-44-86
Caleb McKenna 43-52-86
Blake Ferrell 48-48-96
Barrett Ferrell 52-57-109
Barneveld – 364
Jud Poad 43-48-91
Noah Doescher 41-49-90
Chase Hurlbert 42-48-90
Will Pechan 47-46-93
Konnor Jasinski 47-51-98
River Valley-370
Dayne Moser 42-53-95
Lucas Klein 42-47-89
Jess Sanftlehen 43-41-84
Payton Meili 50-56-106
Blake Brickl 49-53-102
Iowa-Grant-482
Graham Brown 56-51-107
Braden Vacha 61-63-124
Colton Williams 55-63-118
Wyatt Aide 67-66-133
Daniel Wetter 75-83-158
Individual Low Scores
Drew Aschliman 70
Ben Thill 75
