Delano's Peters Wins AA Boys Title; Staples-Motley Knocks Off Detroit Lakes

By Nick Hunter
nhunter23@hotmail.com

  JORDAN, Minn. – The 2013 high school golf season was cut extremely short due to a winter that never ended, so it seemed fitting that the tournament to determine the season’s best would be cut short due to weather as well.

The 2013 Minnesota State High School Class AA Boys Golf Tournament at Ridges at Sand Creek was shortened to just 45 holes after thunderstorms and heavy rain doused the Jordan area.

Players were originally scheduled to tee off at 7:30 a.m., but the start was delayed over five hours.

Senior Jordan Peters, Delano, was the 18-hole leader at 3-under par and held onto his lead by shooting a 1-under par 35 Wednesday to earn medalist honors shooting 104, winning by two strokes.

“I finished fourth at the state tournament last year and even though we had a late spring, I started playing well right away. Obviously early on you can’t think ahead to winning the state tournament but I can take strides to get there,” Peters said.

Peters held a two-stroke lead after Tuesday’s opening round and knew playing defensive golf on the final day wouldn’t work.

“You can get yourself in a lot of trouble when you play that way. I wanted to come into today still playing aggressively but without making big risks. It’s a different mindset playing in the lead because you have a big ‘X’ on your back, so I played confident and was able to shoot a 35 today,” he said.

The hardest part about Wednesday’s final round most likely wasn’t the golf itself, but the waiting for several hours, playing in wet conditions and knowing only nine holes would determine the outcome.

“It was hard to stay focused during a four hour, or even longer, rain delay. I waited seven hours before I finally teed off, he said. “Now that it’s over I don’t know that it has completely sunk in yet but it’s pretty cool knowing that you’re playing some of the best golfers in the state and I was able to beat them all. It feels good going to college ending on this high note.”

In team competition, Staples-Motley carried its 5-stroke lead into the final round and never faltered as it put an end to Detroit Lakes’ two-year AA championship run.

“I thought the boys played great yesterday and it continued today. For them to finish the way they did—they hung in there and gutted it out to the end, they came up big for us,” Staples-Motley coach Glen Hasselberg said.

“They’re a pretty loose group, so they were playing some goofy game during the rain delay. But we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while so I think that helped. It was a long wait but evidently they held up well. It’s a fantastic feeling; I couldn’t be more proud of these kids and what they did this week.”

Staples-Motley was led by senior Mitch Hagenson who finished the shortened tournament at 108 (72-36), good enough for third place.

“Our expectations coming into this year weren’t very high because we lost our two best players from last year. Our main goals were to shoot around 300 in our matches during the year and hopefully make it back here,” Hagenson said.

“I woke up at seven ready to play and didn’t tee off until six hours later. When I heard we were finally going to play, I tried to get zoned in as fast as I could to try to play as well as I did the day before,” he said. “But it feels great to finish in the Top 5. I never really thought I’d do it but I worked really hard on my game for the past four years.”

How else did Hagenson prepare before the final round of the state tournament?

“I ate Pizza Ranch, had a nice little buffet,” he laughed. “Best week of my life.”

The Cardinals also got help from freshman Andrew Israelson who shot an opening round 71 and finished tied for fourth, while senior Trent Hagenson finished at 111, tied for eighth.

RIDGES AT SAND CREEK
JORDAN, MINN.
PAR 72, 6,553 YARDS

FINAL RESULTS (45 HOLES)

TEAM
1. Staples-Motley 294-149—443
2. Detroit Lakes 299-151—450
3. Litchfield 304-150—454
4. Hermantown 312-152—464
5. Blake 315-152—467
6. Marshall 311-158—469
7. Rochester Lourdes 318-163—481
8. New Ulm 321-166—487

INDIVIDUAL
1. Jordan Peters, Sr., Delano, 69-35—104
2. Josh Kummerfeldt, Jr., Waseca, 72-34—106
3. Mitch Hagenson, Sr., Staples-Motley, 72-36—108
T4. Josh Becks, Sr., Hermantown, 74-35—109
T4. Andrew Israelson, Fr., Staples-Motley, 71-38—109
T4. Aaron Leintz, Sr., Bagley, 72-37—109
7. Karter Smith, Sr., Detroit Lakes, 74-36—110
T8. Matt Bennett, Jr., Marshall, 71-40—111
T8. Jacob Boe, Sr., Byron, 75-36—111
T8. Trent Hagenson, Sr., Staples-Motley, 74-37—111
T8. Lucas McCormick, Jr., Breck, 72-39—111
T8. Josh Polingo, Jr., Litchfield, 75-36—111

Complete Results