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Class A golf: Golddiggers golden for a 4th year
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FarkMADISON — Another year, another state championship.
Lead-Deadwood tied a South Dakota girls record Tuesday by winning its fourth consecutive Class A team title with a team score of 690 at the Madison Country Club.
Playing alongside one another, senior Tara Hofer and sophomore Jenessa Rantapaa led the way for the Golddiggers.
Hofer, the two-time defending state champion, shot 88-77 for a two-day total of 165. That placed her second in the individual standings behind Abby Feehan of Dell Rapids, who came in at 81-78—159. Rantapaa shot 88-78—166 and finished third.
Also for Lead-Deadwood, junior Dani Bellet shot 90-84—174 to tie for fifth.
“It feels great to win it again,” Golddiggers coach Joan Rachetto said. “I was pleased with our girls’ scoring, because (Monday’s) scores were a bit higher than normal for us. It was especially fun to watch Jenessa and Tara feed off each other all day.”
Tuesday’s triumph was shared by Hofer and Rantapaa as they finished the round together at the 18th green.
“It feels good winning it again this year after we put in all the effort and practice,” Rantapaa said.
Hofer said playing with her teammate at the state tournament made for a more satisfying end to her high school career.
“I have never been able to play with Jenessa before, but it was great being able to play with her in my last tournament,” Hofer said. “I felt that we were encouraging each other out there, and we wanted both of us to do well.”
Also contributing to the state title performance was sophomore Tassy Rantapaa, who shot 93-92—185 for a 14th-place finish.
“Our team got a lot of experience at this tournament, and it’s nice to see your team play well, since this game is never a given,” Rachetto said.
The tournament was also about building individual confidence.
“Jenessa (Rantapaa) got a lot of confidence this year and came up strong in regions,” Rachetto said. “These kind of experiences build better golfers.”
Speaking of strong golfers, Tuesday marked Hofer’s last round of golf as a Golddigger.
“Tara was a great leader for us, and she always had great confidence to come back and be mentally tough when she needed to be,” Rachetto said.
Hofer and Jenessa Rantapaa tried to challenge Feehan all afternoon, but the Dell Rapids senior held firm after finishing second in 2006 behind Hofer.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Feehan said.
“Maybe in a couple of hours it will — but it feels really good.”
With the victory, Feehan erased any chance of Hofer winning her third consecutive championship.
West Central’s final score of 745 was good enough for second place, followed by Aberdeen Roncalli (798), Vermillion (800), Belle Fourche (802) and Milbank (813).
Lead-Deadwood’s Tara Hofer follows her tee shot on the par-3 sixth hole Tuesday during the final round of the state Class A girls golf championship at Madison Country Club. (Dave Eggen/Inertia)
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