Senior Cody Dusenberry finished in the top 20 in all three of the Owls' tournaments during the past week. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

The Marshall boys' golf team is certainly getting in a lot of work, although it's mainly been in tournaments rather than practice.

The Owls played in three 18-hole meets over a five-day span. Although the temperatures have been mild, the wet courses have had an adverse influence on scores.

"This has been a big time of the season for us, as it always is," remarked MHS head coach Erek Dusenberry. "With all these competitions, we really find out where we are against the field.

"But with the weather and course conditions the way that they have been, it has just been more of the same," he added.

The only medalist for Marshall during this stretch was senior Cody Dusenberry, who tied for ninth place Saturday at the Kirksville Tournament. After bogeying the first seven holes, Dusenberry settled down and shot an 11-over-par 83 -- four strokes better than his score at Kirksville Country Club last year.

The Owls finished 14th in the 16-team field with a 383, reflecting the experience lost from a year ago -- when seniors Connor Lamberson and Nick Fowler, along with Dusenberry, paced the team to a 358 total.

The only other Marshall player who returned to the course was sophomore Brandon Hall, who improved by 11 strokes with a 96. Junior David Findlay shot 100 and senior Austin Lamparter 104. In his first varsity tournament, freshman Quaid Hayob carded a 113.

The Owls shot 354 Monday at the Chillicothe Tournament, finishing 11th out of 12 teams -- including all five foes they will see next month in the Class 3, District 8 Tournament at St. Joseph.

Dusenberry tied for 18th place with an 81, five strokes higher than the four-over-par 76 he turned in last year at Green Hills. Hall shaved nine shots off his game and came in at 88. Lamparter shot a 91, his best tourney performance, and sophomore Tylere Dowell's first varsity tourney was promising with a 94 -- with Findlay only one stroke back at 95.

The caravan moved on to the Hannibal Tournament, rescheduled for Wednesday from April 12, with Marshall coming in ninth out of 15 teams -- behind four of the other five NCMC teams -- with a 379. Last year, the Owls shot 354 in their first stab at Norwoods Country Club, then 344 the second time around while finishing third in the conference meet.

Dusenberry matched his score of a year ago at this tournament with an 87 -- although fired an 82 to make the all-NCMC squad later -- tying for 12th place, while Hall's 93 was four strokes under his best 2007 score on the course.

The other three Birds were packed closely, with Findlay knocking off three strokes from his previous tour of the links at 98 and senior Brandon Thiel -- on the shelf earlier in the week -- and Lamparter both coming in at 101.

While Marshall's varsity was at Chillicothe, the junior varsity tied for ninth place among a dozen teams at the Macon Tournament on Monday. Sophomore Christian Castle had the Owls' top score at 103, while freshman Nathan Sullivan shot 108 and freshman Robbie Gorrell 109. Hayob rounded out the team's 430 total with a 110.

The pace doesn't slacken, and the course and competition both get tougher, today when Marshall plays in the Richmond Tournament at Shirkey Golf Course -- considered one of the most demanding public links in Missouri.