CARROLL – At this point in the season, the score doesn’t matter. It’s all about survival.

That’s the message that the South Hamilton boys’ golf team went with after it struggled, yet still advanced out of Friday’s Class 2A sectional meet at the Carroll Country Club.

Miserable weather conditions – plenty of rain, a mid-round delay and howling winds – didn’t help matters, as the Hawks posted a 373 to place third in the field of eight teams.

Kuemper Catholic dominated with a 325, 44 shots better than runner-up Roland-Story (369). Because Kuemper was playing on its home course, third-place finisher South Hamilton also qualified for this Friday’s district tournament at Lake Panorama National in Panora.

“Weather, fast greens and not real exceptional play by most teams was the cocktail of the day,” South Hamilton head coach Mark Ullestad said. “We were pretty close to Roland-Story all year and that’s how it played out.”

High scores were the norm for every team except Kuemper, who owned five of the top six scores. Ryan Fueto won the individual title on his home course with a 77, four shots clear of teammate and runner-up Nate Mertz (81).

All six of the Hawks’ players struggled on the unfamiliar track in the adverse playing conditions.

“The weather played a huge part,” Ullestad said. “The win was just moving the ball all over the place.”

Colton Coy led the team with an 88. Chase Jewell added a 93 and three players – Jared Ullestad, Nathan Sogard and Luke Peters – turned in rounds of 96. Landon Quam fired a 99.

“It was nice to see Colton play well,” Ullestad said. “He hit the ball well.”

Moving on was the goal, but Ullestad knows the district tournament will be a bigger beast to try to slay.

“We’re glad to move on and to give our kids at least one more week to play, but we’ll have to play by far our best round of the year to have any kind of sniff of moving on (to state),” Ullestad said. “We know the course real well, so hopefully that plays to our advantage.”