Card girls' golf: Alexandria secures another Central Lakes Conference title

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The Alexandria girls’ golf team took advantage of great scoring conditions on Monday to secure the Central Lakes Conference title in Brainerd.

The Cardinals came into the meet as the favorites and then went out and played like it on their way to a team score of 321. They needed every one of those low scores as St. Cloud Tech came in just behind them with a 326 and Rocori rounded out the top three with a 336.

“We had a lot of smiles as the girls turned their score cards in today,” head coach Tim Zupfer said. “I have been waiting and predicting that we were due to post something special for a team score. Today was the day as the girls took full advantage of good scoring conditions.”

Natalie Amundson continued to solidify herself as one of the top players in the league as just a freshman. She finished off a memorable run through the conference season by taking medalist honors after shooting a 78. She started on the back and birdied her first three holes to set the pace for her round.

Senior Caroline Roers backed her up with a career-best round herself. Roers shot 38 on the back behind a strong putting performance on her way to an 80. That left her in fifth place individually.

Emily Thul was not far behind in seventh place. She shot an 81, while Amanda Bigger was 10th overall after carding an 82. Brynn Novotny started strong with a 39 through her first nine holes before four double bogeys on the front put her in 19th place with an 86. Shelby Iverson was 28th with a 91.

The win in Brainerd gave the Cardinals the conference title with 61 points in the final standings. St. Cloud Tech finished second (54.5) and St. Cloud Apollo was third (50.5).

“Alexandria was the most consistent team throughout the conference race,” Zupfer said. “Winning four of the six conference meets and finishing second twice.”

That made it no surprise that Alexandria finished with five players named either all conference or honorable mention all conference. The top 14 scoring averages were awarded All-CLC honors, with the next six being recognized on the honorable-mention team.

Amundson led that group of Cardinal players after finishing second in the conference with an average of 80.25. That was just one stroke off conference leader Jenny Muessing of Brainerd.

Bigger was fourth with an average of 84.0. Novotny finished ninth at 84.25 and Thul was 13th with an average of 86.0. Roers rounded out the list of Alexandria golfers recognized by finishing with the 16th best average at 87.5

The Cardinals will now turn their attention to the section tournament after a scheduled trip to GreyStone for the Melrose Invite last night, Thursday. The two-day section tournament will begin on May 31 before wrapping up on June 1 in Long Prairie.

CLC CHAMPIONSHIP

TEAM RESULTS – 1. Alexandria – 321; 2. St. Cloud Tech – 326; 3. Rocori – 335; 4. St. Cloud Apollo – 336; 5. Brainerd – 344; 6. Willmar – 363; 7. Sartell – 370; 8. Sauk Rapids – 479; 9. Fergus Falls – Inc.

ALEXANDRIA SCORES – Amundson – first place, 41-37 – 78; Roers – fifth place, 42, 38 – 80; Thul – seventh place, 41, 40 – 81; Bigger – 10th place, 40, 42 – 82; Novotny – 19th place, 47, 39 – 86; Iverson – 28th place, 45, 46 – 91

FINAL CLC STANDINGS – 1. Alexandria – 61; 2. Tech – 54.5; 3. Apollo – 50.5; 4. Rocori – 42.5; 5. Brainerd – 36; 6. Willmar – 26.5; 7. Sartell – 19; 8. Fergus Falls – 16; 9. Sauk Rapids – 9

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