Card girls' golf: Alexandria battles weather, top teams at invite
Cardinals third at home invitational, third at wadena.By: Lori Mork, Alexandria Echo Press
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When the weather is cold and rainy, what’s a person supposed to do all day?
The Alexandria girls’ golf team had the answer Saturday as they headed to the tee and faced off against some of the best players in the state in their 13-team invitational at the Geneva Golf Club.
The Cardinal girls put a pair of players in the top 10 and finished third overall behind Class AA’s No. 1 Detroit Lakes and Class AAA’s No. 8 St. Cloud Tech. The Cards are ranked No. 7 in Class AAA.
“The conditions were a little cool and the teams had to play in a steady rain for the last nine holes,” said Alexandria head coach Tim Zupfer. “We had two Alexandria teams participate in the event, with the Alexandria Black finishing third overall and the Alexandria Red team placing 12th.”
“Our team score was a little higher today, and the team was a little disappointed to get beat by conference rival St. Cloud Tech,” said Zupfer. “For some reason, a couple of our players had really poor starts to their rounds. This happened before the rain started.
“We will have to determine if there is a need to change our mental or physical preparation. One of my goals for the team is to get four scores under 85 in the near future.”
Both Natalie Amundson, who was third overall, and Amanda Bigger, who finished seventh, were named to the all-tournament team.
Amundson put in rounds of 35-42 – 77 and Bigger 37-45 – 82.
“I was pleased to see the way Natalie and Amanda competed,” said their coach. “Both of them had very strong first nines. They each scored a little higher on the longer second nine, which they also played in the rain.”
Emily Thul had rounds of 43-46 – 89 to finish 22nd, Caroline Roers was 41-51 – 92 for 30th place, Brynn Novotny finished her day at 47-48 – 95 for 39th place and Shelby Iverson had a 47-53 – 100 for 51st to round out the Alex Black team.
“Brynn had a tough start, and continued to struggle for most of her round,” Zupfer said. “She did manage to finish her last six holes with her best play of the day.
“Caroline also had a tough start, and had a poor day putting. To her credit, she put together a string of five consecutive pars once she got past the first few holes.
“Emily’s play was a little inconsistent,” he added. “She had a number of penalty shots during her round, and did not have a real good day putting. She still managed seven pars on her scorecard.
“Shelby was a little disappointed that her second nine was not under 50. She, too, started a little slow. She did put together a string of good holes, but struggled some, having to finish in the wet conditions. I believe this was the first time competing in this much rain.
“Our Alexandria Red team showed great resolve, handling the wet conditions and playing varsity level competition,” he said.
Alison Schwartz finished with a 108, Madison Groettum 110, Kalley Bistodeau 111, Madi Houska 119, Brooke Swanson 120, Sadee Kirckof 122 and Emma Pederson 122.
ALEXANDRIA INVITATIONAL GIRLS’ GOLF
GENEVA GOLF CLUB
TEAM SCORES – 1. Detroit Lakes 324, 2. St. Cloud Tech 335, 3. Alexandria Black 340, 4. Elk River 344, 5. Eagan 349, 6. St. Cloud Cathedral 353, 7. Rocori 364, 8. Becker 366, 9. Fergus Falls 384, 10. St. Michael-Albertville 392, 11. Rogers 405, 12. Alexandria Red 448, 13. Brainerd incomplete.
TOP 10 – 1. Trisa Hutchinson, DL, 73, 2. Kate Smith, DL, 74, 3. Natalie Amundson, Alex Black, 77, 4. Jenny Muesing, Brd, 79, 5. Kourtney Williams, Beck, and Bobbie Bohlig, SCT, 81, 7. Amanda Bigger, Alex, Black, 82, Sadie Martin, ER, 82; Alexie Portz, SCT, 82, 10. Matty Tschider, DL, 83.
ALEXANDRIA BLACK – Amundson 77, Bigger 82, Caroline Roers 92, Emily Thul 89, Brynn Novotny 95, Shelby Iverson 100.
ALEXANDRIA RED – Allison Schwartz 108, Madi Houska 119, Madison Groettum 110, Kalley Bistodeau 111, Brook Swanson 120, Sadee Kirckof 122, Emma Pederson 122.
WADENA INVITATIONAL
The Cardinal girls put three players in the top 10 at the Wadena Invitational golf tournament Thursday, earning Alexandria third place behind Detroit Lakes and Pequot Lakes.
All three teams are at the top of the rankings in the Minnesota Golf Association’s combined rankings, with Detroit Lakes second, Alexandria ninth and Pequot Lakes 11th.
“It’s amazing how two teams can play 18 holes, count four scores and only be separated by one shot,” said Cardinal head coach Tim Zupfer of his team’s one-shot difference with Pequot Lakes. “Hence our motto, ‘Every shot counts’.”
Amanda Bigger and Natalie Amundson put together rounds of 82 as the two tied for fifth. Caroline Roers also cracked the top 10 with a score of 84 for her best score of the season.
“Both Natalie and Amanda played very similar rounds. Not only did both of them shoot 41-41, but they each finished the last four holes 4-over-par,” said the coach. “Each of them was frustrated not to card a round at 80 or better.
“Caroline has had a good week, improving her score each time she hits the course. She was quite pleased to shoot 84 and place in the top 10. She played her last 11 holes 4-over-par.”
Emily Thul, Allison Schwartz and Shelby Iverson rounded out Alexandria’s scoring for the day with totals of 87, 96 and 98 respectively.
“Emily’s round was similar to Caroline’s,” said Zupfer. “Emily played the back nine holes in just 4-over-par. She had a bit of a tough start, as her front nine total of 47 was higher than she would have liked.
“Shelby had her best 9-hole score of the year with a 44 on the front nine. However, the back nine holes took a toll on her score as she shot 54. It is the second consecutive meet with her score under 100.
“Allison posted a career-best 18-hole score of 96,” added the coach. “She had consistent 9-hole scores of 47 and 49.
“I was pleased with our overall play. We are starting to lower our individual scores. I think we have five players realizing shooting 80 or better is within their reach.
“We also closed the gap on Detroit Lakes,” Zupfer continued. “They may be the best team in the state, regardless of school size. Last week, they scored 28 shots better than us; today, only 18.”
Alexandria was to have been at Sartell Monday and Red Wing Tuesday. They are scheduled to play at Long Prairie on Friday and travel to Staples-Motley for an invitational on Saturday.
WADENA INVITATIONAL GIRLS’ GOLF
TEAM SCORES – 1. Detroit Lakes 317, 2. Pequot Lakes 334, 3. Alexandria 335, 4. Staples-Motley 361, 5. Brainerd and Pelican Rapids 366, 7. Fergus Falls 379, 8. Park Rapids 382, 9. Moorhead 393, 10. Wadena-Deer Creek 398, 11. Barnesville 436, 12. Crosby-Ironton 459, 13. Menahga-Sebeka, incomplete.
MEDALIST – Kate Smith, DL, 71.
ALEXANDRIA RESULTS – 5. Amanda Bigger 41-41 – 82 and Natalie Amundson 41-41 – 82, 10. Caroline Roers 43-41 – 84, 16. Emily Thul 47-40 – 87, Allison Schwartz 47-49 – 96, Shelby Iverson 44-54 – 98.
Follow #AlexMN @EchoPress Sports Editor Lori Mork on Twitter at @morkwriter.
Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, girls, golf
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