The Alexandria girls golf team had a 15-shot lead going into the second round of the Central Lakes Conference Tournament at Blackberry Ridge in Sartell on May 24.
This team has been too consistent all year to let a lead like that slip away. The Cardinals shot a 314 at the Alexandria Golf Club on May 17 in round one of the two-day championship. They put away the conference championship with a 335 on Monday as second-place Brainerd shot a 344. Alexandria finished at 649 to the Warriors’ 673.
“While we had a higher team score than we would have liked on Monday, we still managed to increase our lead over Brainerd by another nine shots,” Alexandria head coach Tim Zupfer said. “Highlights of the day were placing four players on the all-conference team, and having Isabella Hagen and Rachel Bowen shoot personal-best rounds.”
All-CLC players were determined by taking each golfer’s best four rounds from the nine conference meets this spring. Hannah Boraas (first), Cora Larson (second), Lauren Rebrovich (seventh) and Aisling O’Connor (ninth) all placed in the top 10 in season scoring average to earn All-CLC honors.
“The top of our lineup did not get off to a very strong start (Monday),” Zupfer said. “The front nine at Blackberry does require some careful shot placements. The wind also added an extra element that challenged the players. As a team, we had a number of penalty shots and a higher number of putts than normal. These are both things we can clean up. Scores of the entire field were high, which would indicate the course played difficult.”
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Alexandria still placed four athletes in the top six. Boraas tied for second Monday with an 80 (41-39), while Larson was fourth at 83 (43, 40).
“Hannah was able to card three birdies in the middle of her round to right the ship a little,” Zupfer said. “It is unusual for her to card three double bogeys. She did manage to hit 11-of-18 greens in regulation. Cora did not have a good day with her putter. She was solid off the tee and hit 12-of-18 greens in regulation. She also had two holes with scores higher than bogey.”
Rebrovich shot an 86 (47, 39). She was just 1-over par over her last seven holes to finish strong. Rachel Bowen was the Cardinals’ fourth scorer with a personal-best 86 (43, 43). That tied Rebrovich for sixth place individually.
“Rachel really played well and most importantly posted one of our top four scores,” Zupfer said. “Her round included seven pars, which is a season high. She only had 3 double-bogeys and nothing higher.”
Aisling O’Connor was the meet medalist in round one of the CLC championship at AGC. She had a tough ball-striking day and was not able to make the putts at Blackberry Ridge that helped her to a 76 on May 17.
O’Connor tied for 13th in Sartell with a 90 (45, 45), while Isabella Hagen finished off the lineup with a 92 (43, 49). That put her 17th on the day and tied her personal-best score.
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“Isabella had a great start with pars on her first four holes,” Zupfer said. “She did struggle a little at the end of her round, but managed a season-best score. She had a great week of practice and is making progress from 100 yards and in.”
Alexandria has a meet in Brainerd on its schedule for May 26 before focusing on the Section 8-3A Tournament June 3-4 at the Headwaters Golf Course in Park Rapids.
CLC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM SCORES - Alexandria - 314, 335 - 649; Brainerd - 329, 344 - 673; Sartell - 370, 374 - 744; Fergus Falls - 372, 379 - 751; Willmar - 399, 380 - 779; Bemidji - 405, 397 - 802; St. Cloud - 461, 411 - 872; Rocori - 460, 456 - 916
