It was a successful first day for the Albert Lea boys’ golf team as it opened section play Tuesday in New Prague.

The Tigers played well enough to score 347 as a team to advance to the second day of section play.

Blue Earth Area finished the day in first with a score of 330 and St. Peter came in second with a score of 334.

Leading the way for Albert Lea was Sam Chalmers, who shot an 81. His brother, Danny, finished with an 87, and Marty Syverson entered the clubhouse with an 89. Spencer Chicos shot a 90 to round out the top four scores.

The main goal is to win the section and advance to state. Down 17 strokes, Albert Lea is still in contention.

“Our goal as a team was to compete for the section title,” Tigers coach Max Jeffrey said. “We wanted to be playing our best golf of the year at this time.”

The Tigers got a solid performance from Sam Chalmers, who shot the fifth-best score of golfers in the top four teams.

“Sam had a real nice day,” Jeffrey said. “He managed the course well and his putting was as strong as I’ve seen it all season. He will tell you, as will all the guys, that he left some shots out there and could have scored better.”

Albert Lea won’t return to the course for competition until Monday, giving it ample time to prepare.

Seventeen strokes is a lot of ground to make up, but the Tigers are looking forward to the challenge.

“We are 17 shots back, but that won’t deter us from playing sound golf,” Jeffrey said. “It may sound and look like a big mountain to climb, but we just need to play our best and not worry about the others.”