Girls golf roundup: A good, if cool, day on the links

Apr. 24—WILLMAR — It was an all hands on deck effort to get Eagle Creek Golf Club ready to go for the Willmar Girls Golf Invitational on Monday.

Both the Willmar boys and girls golf teams helped the grounds crew clean up the course leading up to the invitational.

That effort led to a season-opening day that saw 10 teams compete with weather in the mid-to-upper 40s and low wind speeds.

"I saw an opportunity for us to get everybody in the area a chance to play," Willmar girls golf head coach Bryan Mara said. "Our grounds crew hit it really hard on Saturday and Sunday to make sure that we could be here today, so everybody is really grateful for that. I think all the other teams really appreciated an opportunity to play."

Two area teams finished in the top three. Lac qui Parle Valley, which ranks No. 20 in the state in all classes, finished second at 382 and BOLD placed third at 383.

Alexandria, ranked No. 3 in the state, took first with a team score of 348. Dawson-Boyd secured fourth at 388. Willmar placed sixth at 417 behind Sartell's 392.

"The girls have been working really hard," LQPV head coach Kipp Stender said. "I'm very happy with how they played today. I knew they would do pretty well just because of their focus and work ethic in practice and positivity and team unity."

LQPV had two golfers secure top-10 finishes. Senior Isabella Jacobs took fourth with an 88 and freshman Molly Halvorson tied Alexandria's Ellie Sticha with a round of 92.

Alexandria senior Hannah Boraas, ranked No. 3 in the state, won the individual title. She shot 1-under-par with a 71. Her round included four birdies and three bogeys.

There were four more area golfers that finished in the top 10 individually. BOLD junior Kenna Henriksen took second place (82), Dawson-Boyd sophomore Lindsey Lund placed third (86) and Dawson-Boyd freshman Alyssa Swedzinski finished in a tie for fifth with Willmar freshman Kennedy Mara (90).

"I was just hoping to play my game," Henriksen said. "I've been looking forward to a meet like this with the sun out too."

Henriksen finished 5-over-par on both the front and back nine, including two birdies. One of the birdies was almost an eagle on the first hole."But my shot hit the pin, so I had a nice little birdie putt," Henriksen. "It bounced a little bit back, so it was nice."

Lund, who shot a 42 on the back nine, was pleased with her putting. She also has been focusing on her mental game.

"I felt like my putting was really on today and that really helped me shoot what I shot," Lund said. "Trust my swing — that's been my key this year. To just trust myself and know that I'm making the right decision."

Team scoring

(1) Alexandria 348 ... (2) Lac qui Parle Valley 382 ... (3) BOLD 383 ... (4) Dawson-Boyd 388 ... (5) Sartell 392 ... (6) Willmar 417 ... (7) St. Cloud 422 ... (8) Community Christian School 459 ... (9) MACCRAY 472 ... (10) Benson N/A

Individual

TOP FIVE — (1) Hannah Boraas, Alex, 71 ... (2) Kenna Henriksen, BOLD, 82 ... (3) Lindsey Lund, DB, 86 ... (4) Isabella Jacobs, LQPV, 88 ... (5) Alyssa Swedzinski, DB, 90 ... (5) Kennedy Mara, W, 90

BENSON — (51t) Molly Jones 130 ... (54) Elle Kletscher 133 ... (56) Adeline DeToy 137 ... (57) Hannah Rosen 140 ... (58) Elise Duncan 157 ... (N/A) Faith Klucas

BOLD — (2) Henriksen 82 ... (14t) Alison Kadlec 96 ... (18) Tori Osterfeld 101 ... (23t) McKenna Jensen 104 ... (28t) Layla Pfarr 108 ... (43t) Tatum Mages 118

CCS — (28t) Katrina Velyan 108 ... (37t) Annellise Larkins 113 ... (43t) Lexi Macik 118 ... (45t) Sage Mulder 120 ... (48t) Hope Reid 122 ... (55) Margo Klaassen 134

CMCS — (N/A) Natasha Erickson

DAWSON-BOYD — (3) Lund 86 ... (5t) Swedzinski 90 ... (20t) Kylar Hjelmeland 103 ... (31t) Claire Stratmoen 109

LQPV — (4) Jacobs 88 ... (8t) Molly Halvorson 92 ... (17) Kaitlyn Kittelson 99 ... (20t) Kate Ulstad 103 ... (26) Grace Vacek 105 ... (28t) Peyton Sachs 108 ... (53) Carly Kranz 131

MACCRAY — (33) Alexis Noble 110 ... (45t) Callie Macht 120 ... (45t) Kori Bristle 120 ... (48t) Alix Bristle 122

WILLMAR — (5t) Mara 90 ... (20t) Fernanda Ossa Letelier 103 ... (34t) Avery Olson 111 ... (37t) Lily Jorgenson 113 ... (39t) Maycee Gustafson 114 ... (41t) Halle Mortensen 115

The Litchfield girls took first and the New London-Spicer girls finished third in the Watertown-Mayer Invitational at Timber Creek Golf Course.

Dassel-Cokato junior Mackenzie Kohls won the individual title, shooting a 46.

The Dragons' best four golfers who contributed to the team score all finished in the top 15. Senior Amelia Benson placed second (47), senior Lauren Erickson settled for a tie for seventh (52), senior Ciarra Resmen finished in a tie for 10th (53) and junior Lydia Asmus took 12th place (54).

NLS saw two of its golfers place in the top 10. The Wildcats' best round came from freshman Rylie Harrier, who shot a 51 en route to a sixth-place finish. Senior Annika Duininck shot a 52, good for a tie for seventh.

Team scoring

(1) Litchfield 206 ... (2) Watertown-Mayer 211 ... (3) New London-Spicer 217 ... (3) Dassel-Cokato 217 ... (5) Glencoe-Silver Lake 225 ... (6) Annandale 228 ... (7) Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 258

Individual

TOP FIVE — (1) Mackenzie Kohls, D-C, 46 ... (2) Amelia Benson, L, 47 ... (3) Katelyn Leuthner, W-M, 49 ... (4t) Isabelle Dingmann, A, 50 ... (4t) Eva Stuewe, G-SL, 50

LITCHFIELD — (2) Benson 47 ... (7t) Lauren Erickson 52 ... (10t) Ciarra Resmen 53 ... (12) Lydia Asmus 54 ... (14t) Natalie Randt ... (25t) Elsa Opjorden 59

NLS — (6) Rylie Harrier 51 ... (7t) Annika Duininck 52 ... (14t) Rachel Renner 55 ... (25t) Brynn Arnsdorf 59 ... (28) Madisyn Claseman 61 ... (29t) Olivia Paffrath 63

The New London-Spicer girls team secured a first-place finish and the Litchfield girls team followed behind in second at the Glencoe-Silver Lake Invitational at Glencoe Country Club.

NLS, which scored 202, beat Litchfield's 209. Glencoe-Silver Lake's Eva Stuewe finished in a tie for first place with Watertown-Mayer's Katelyn Leuthner at 47.

Wildcats senior Annika Duininck had the best finish between NLS and Litchfield, shooting a round of 48 to tie Annandale's Isabelle Dingmann for third place. Dragons senior Natalie Randt placed sixth with a 50.

NLS senior Rachel Renner tied Wildcats teammate Rylie Harrier, a ninth-grader, for seventh (51).

Litchfield seniors Lauren Erickson and Elsa Opjorden settled for a three-way tie in ninth place at 52 with NLS junior Madisyn Claseman.

Team scoring

(1) New London-Spicer 202 ... (2) Litchfield 209 ... (3) Watertown-Mayer 213 ... (4) Dassel-Cokato 218 ... (5) Glencoe-Silver Lake 220 ... (6) Annandale 226 ... (7) Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 266

Individual

TOP FIVE — (1t) Eva Stuewe, G-SL, 47 ... (1t) Katelyn Leuthner, W-M, 47 ... (3t) Isabelle Dingmann, A, 48 ... (3t) Annika Duininck, NLS, 48 ... (5) Mackenzie Kohls, D-C, 49

LITCHFIELD — (6) Natalie Randt 50 ... (9t) Elsa Opjorden 52 ... (9t) Lauren Erickson 52 ... (16t) Amelia Benson 55 ... (22t) Ciarra Resmen 57 ... (25) Lydia Asmus 59

NLS — (3t) Duininck 48 ... (7t) Rylie Harrier 51 ... (7t) Rachel Renner 51 ... (9t) Madisyn Claseman ... (13t) Brynn Arnsdorf 54 ... (35) Olivia Paffrath 70