Nebraska City’s golf team backed up last week’s season opening first place finish at the Beatrice Invite with another first place finish, this time at Monday’s Auburn Invite.

There was a difference between the two events.

This one wasn’t as close.

Despite windy and cold conditions, the Nebraska City team posted a 314, a score 33 shots in front of second place Humboldt-TRS.

For the second straight meet Dan Fountain finished as the top Pioneer shooter. He hit for an 80, tied for second and scored a third place medal at Beatrice.

This time, Fountain stood alone atop the individual leaderboard with a 77.

The first place finish was a career first for Fountain.

“It was a nice day for him,” Coach Scott Kinnison said. “It’s a nice accomplishment to get your first individual title.”

Coach Kinnison said the title was also noteworthy due to the conditions Fountain battled through on Monday.

Scoring second on the Pioneer card and bouncing back in a major way with a second place finish in the individual standings was John Rakes.

Rakes struggled at the Beatrice Invite, taking a number of penalty shots. The team didn’t use his score, a definite rarity for Rakes.

“It was a good bounce back round for him,” Coach Kinnison said of Rakes’ Auburn performance, adding that the Beatrice disappointment likely fueled Rakes’ determination.

Clayton Rakes came in third on the Pioneer scorecard and third in the individual standings with a 79. He tied with a golfer from Humboldt-TRS and won a scorecard playoff.

The highlights of the round for Rakes came on the 14th and 15th hole.

Rakes holed out from 140 yards for an eagle on the 14th hole of his round, then followed that with a birdie.

Coming in fourth on the Pioneer scorecard and fifth overall was Colton Pinney.

Coach Kinnison said he was pleased with Pinney’s round, particularly his improvement over the final nine holes. Pinney shot an 80.

The coach also praised Pinney’s mental fortitude. Pinney was forced to play with a group that included golfers who had a high number of strokes in the round, a fact that left Pinney waiting and watching far longer between shots than normal.

Rounding out the scorecard for the Pioneers was Dylan Heng, who hit an 84 that didn’t count in the overall team score for the Pioneers.

The score would have easily counted on other teams for the tourney and was good enough to score an eighth place finish for Heng, although the Pioneer lost out on a medal due to scorecard playoffs.

Cold weather and a large group were complications for Heng on the opening nine holes. Coach Kinnison said Heng was put in a group with five other golfers, making for longer waits between shots.

After nine holes, Heng was placed in a group of three golfers and played under warmer conditions. That added up to an eight stroke improvement for Heng, from 46 on the front nine to 38 on the back nine.

After securing the tourney title at Auburn, the Nebraska CIty varsity will head into an off week.

A group of junior varsity Pioneer shooters will play at the Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Invite Tuesday and at the Platteview Invite Thursday. Tee times are 9 a.m. for both meets.

Coach Kinnison said Sam Sullivan, who has been out of action due to illness, will make his season debut at Syracuse.

The Pioneer varsity will return to action for a dual at Norris at 4 p.m. Monday.