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Osterloo, young Raiders have high hopes
Talented Brookings team heads field
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FarkRAPID CITY — A tough Class AA high school golf season comes to an end Tuesday.
With the inclement weather this past season, many of the competitions have been cancelled, leaving the state’s golfers with plenty of time to rest and not a lot of time to hone their skills.
“I think everyone’s in the same situation,” said Rapid City Stevens head coach Phil Hunt. “Nobody has seen the state’s best golf yet.”
Sturgis coach Joe Shetler agrees.
“I don’t think we’ve put it all together yet,” he said. “We’ve had a tremendous day at home already and we know we are capable of playing well. But everyone must have a good day on the same day.”
Much will be learned today and Tuesday at the state high school girls golf championships at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell. Play begins today at 9 a.m. MDT and 8 a.m. Tuesday. The golfers will play 18 holes on each day.
Rapid City Stevens looks to have a competitive team. The Raiders are led by Paige Osterloo, who is entering her sixth state tournament, and is looking to improve on her fourth-place finish from last year. Osterloo was so eager to get started she left Rapid City early to get an extra day of practice at the course.
“That is kind of typical with a player like her,” said Rapid City Stevens coach Phil Hunt.
Osterloo, who sits atop the first flight at state with a score of 75, will lead a relatively young team that includes two eighth-graders, a sophomore and a junior. Osterloo will do fine in Mitchell, Hunt said, but for Stevens to do well the young golfers will have to step up.
Right on Osterloo’s heels is a talented field from throughout the state, and even on her own team. Fellow Raider Katelyn Belzer was a top 20 finisher at the state meet last season and she has bettered Osterloo a couple of times in 2008. The most recent was this past week in the All-City tournament.
“I look for her to have a great state tournament,” Hunt said about Belzer.
The top golfers to watch, other than Osterloo, are Molly Donahue of Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Last year’s runner-up Chelsey Cadwell of Sioux Falls Washington, Taylor Smalley of Pierre and Morgan Fitts of Brookings. All four placed either first or second in their respective conferences this season.
Brookings is the team to beat, according to both Stevens’ and Sturgis’ coaches. The Bobcats won the past three state meets and they return five of the six golfers on the team They also return two of the top five golfers from last year’s meet — Fitts and Ashley Hendricks.
“They’ve been pretty dominant, and it looks like that will continue this year,” Hunt said.
Other teams predicted to be in the top five include Sioux Falls O’Gorman with Donahue and Katie Benedict, Stevens, Huron and Sioux Falls Washington.
Sturgis’ coach says that Stevens has a slight chance to be a sleeper team.
“Stevens has a way of playing good when it is time to play good,” Shetler said. “Huron also will have a chance.”
Shetler is hoping for three things for his Sturgis team. He wants his top golfer, Megan McDougall, to have a good tournament, his team to place ninth or better and he wants his golfers to have a good time and gain experience.
“I want them to enjoy it first,” Shetler said. “You want them to smile when they hand you their scorecard.”
Like Stevens, Sturgis is bringing a young team to Mitchell — a squad that includes a senior, junior, two sophomores and a freshman. The challenge for his golfers will be handling the atmosphere.
“The mental part is a big part of it,” Shetler said. “It is hard to prepare for.”
As for the course itself, Lakeview Golf Course is a public, 18-hole course with a unique layout. It is relatively flat, and the greens on the back nine are bigger than the ones on the front nine, which puts considerable pressure on the golfers’ short games. The course features consecutive par 3s and 5s.
“I think we’ll see some good scores,” Shetler said. “The par 3s will be difficult.”
Also golfing for Stevens are Molly Webster and Kate Knigge, and eighth-graders Erin Cheever and Molly Rezich.
“They are both really improved,” Hunt said about his eighth-grade golfers. “They’re gonna be good ones.”
Rapid City Central has four golfers entered in the meet — Taylor Warren, Lindsay Evans, Jordan Catlett and Azure Rodriguez. Douglas’ competitors include Brooke Schafer, Kayla Straub, Marissa Layton, Emily Ives, Whitney Pittmon and Shay Slaughter. The Spearfish golfers are Hayley Decker, Vanessa Hamacker, Sami Stadel, Jenna Crosswait, Erin Cole and Bridget Decker.
Also playing for Sturgis are sophomore Brianna Dodge, freshmen Kelsey Emme and Taylor Kreutz, sophomore Megan Merwin and junior Alyssa Gouldin.
Rapid City Stevens’ Paige Osterloo watches a shot during last year’s state tournament. Osterloo enters this year’s tournament as one of the favorites in the individual competition.
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