Blake's Hitchner Enters 2018 as Top-Ranked Boys' Golfer—In More Ways Than One

High School

By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
There’s a saying that states maturity is not measured by age, it’s an attitude built by experience. Another says that from its earliest beginnings golf has been a gentleman’s game—to be played as much for the sake of the game as for the contest.
 
Combine the two concepts into the makeup of a current high school golfer and one need look no further than top-ranked Blake senior Derek Hitchner. Introduced to the game by his father at the age of five, Hitchner’s dedication and appreciation of the game has flourished at a rate unusual for a junior golfer.
 
“Golf has always been a passion of mine and I’ve never really thought of doing anything else—that’s driven me to be as good as I can,” Hitchner said. “I started playing at a really young age and it’s what I’ve devoted a lot of time to. I’m not sure what was so attractive to me about the game when I started playing, but it seems like such a natural game. You spend a lot of time outdoors and, in my opinion, my success is determined by the amount of effort I put in.
 
“It can be a really rewarding game, but very humbling at the same time. It can give you a lot of important life lessons and it continues to do that for me today. It’s been a very rewarding game in developing my character and who I am today.”
 
A member of the Blake varsity golf team as a seventh grader in 2013, where he placed inside the top-50 at the Class AA state championship, Hitcher's poise and composure were evident. As an eighth grader, Hitchner improved to a top-25 finish.

Cracking the top-10 as a freshman at the 2015 tournament, Hitchner played a key role in preserving a state team title for the Bears, its first team title in nearly 20 years. Named team captain to begin his sophomore season in 2016, Hitchner led Blake back to the state tournament where he fired a tournament-record 7-under par 65 en route to an 11-stroke victory to earn medalist honors as Blake earned their second straight and fourth overall team title.

Some might say he took a step back with a fifth-place finish at last year’s event despite his team claiming its third consecutive team title, but the meticulous and tactical Hitchner translated it much differently.
 
“I felt like my game was in a good spot last year—a top-5 finish is pretty solid and I was three or four shots behind [medalist Cecil Belisle]. I can think back and find three or four shots that I could’ve easily made up,” he said. “I don’t think I was that far off last year and I need to approach [Class AA site Ridges at Sand Creek] that I’ve had success here before and know I can do it again and need to put the ball in the right spots and not get into trouble on some of those back nine holes.
 
“I know I’ve put in the work to do it and I’ll continue to do so and hopefully I’ll be able to execute better than I did last year.”
 
Hitchner’s successes have transitioned to the national as well, qualifying for the 2017 U.S. Amateur Championship and playing in the 2017 Trans-Mississippi tournament leading to a 2017 Rolex Junior All-American nod.

He placed sixth at the Western Junior Championship, the oldest junior tournament in the country, and at the 2017 Minnesota State Open he finished fifth against the state's best professional and amateur golfers, most at least twice his age.

And still, while growing taller and lankier with each passing golf season, it's nearly impossible to determine whether Hitchner wrote down a birdie or a bogey on his scorecard on any given hole based on his calm demeanor as he casually strolls the golf course.

In five American Junior Golf Association starts he’s collected one victory and four other top-5 finishes, most recently finishing tied for fifth at the AJGA PING Heather Farr Classic at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz., in early April, shooting a three-day total of 3-under par 210.
 
Ranked inside the top-40 in both the AJGA and Junior Golf Scoreboard, Hitchner has kept his game sharp over the lengthy winter months and is eager to get back on the course in search of his second individual title and fourth straight team title.
 
“I’ve gone to the Braemar golf dome a lot to refine some things in my swing,” he said. “The toughest thing has been trying to work on the short game. It’s tough to find a good short-game facility. The dome has been good for my swing and working on some tactical things.
 
“We haven’t spent a lot of time together as a team. Having lost [Reece Sanders, Ian Murray and Peter Gullickson], we have half our starting lineup back so it might take a little bit to get the guys to mesh and work together. The conditions are going to be tough, but everyone has to play the same course, so we’ll just have to deal with it.”
 
Hitchner credits Blake coach and teaching professional at The Minikahda Club, Marshall Hoiness, as the driving force behind his growth both on and off the course.
 
“Marshall has been so important in developing me as a person and with my golf game. We started working together when I was five or six and we have such a great relationship,” Hitchner described. “We’re really honest with each other and having that close relationship has been so helpful in assessing where my game is at and what I can improve on. We work really hard together in improving those parts of my game. I would not be where I am without him.
 
“Ball striking has become a pretty solid part of game. I’ve worked a lot of refining my misses and trying to eliminate the two-way miss and then eliminate the cut or the slice. Keeping the ball in play is something I’ve improved a lot in the last couple of years. Driving and ball striking are probably the two strongest parts of my game.”
 
Playing in as many tournaments possible during the year, Hitchner says he is constantly sizing up his game against the best junior golfers across the country.
 
“Playing in tournaments has always given me a start in terms of comparing my game to others,” he said. “I played in the U.S. Kids’ Championship at Pinehurst every year from nine to 13 and that was always my benchmark for assessing where my game was and where I stack up against other players.
 
“I’ve gone through the AJGA and with all the ranking systems it now easy to get a sense of where my game is at. My mindset is that I want to work at my game and see where I am when I get to college. Considering college golfers are the next wave [of PGA Tour players], that’ll be a good stage to get a good understanding of how my game compares to some of the best players in the world. Then we’ll see if playing golf full-time professionally is a possibility.”
 
Hitchner has committed to play golf at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., this fall. The Waves, ranked No. 26 nationally by Golfweek, clinched their 19th West Coast Conference title April 18 to earn an automatic bid in the 2018 NCAA Division I National Tournament.
 
 
CLASS A
Mahnomen-Waubun cruised to an 18-stroke victory in Class A at Pebble Creek Golf Club in 2017, but the Thunderbirds will be without two of their top three state finishers for the 2018 season. Lac Quit Parle Valley will contend again this season, losing just one player from last year’s roster, as does Sleepy Eye United.
 
Mounds Park Academy appears to be the early favorite as the Panthers return all six letter winners from a year ago. Seniors Matt Berning and two-time Class A individual champion Brock Bliese should be the best tandem in Class A.
 
 
CLASS AA
Blake has held a stranglehold as champions of Class AA for the past three seasons, but 2015 individual medalist Derek Hitchner will need some help from his underclassmen teammates. The Bears went on to win their third consecutive state team title by 14 strokes over Holy Family in 2017 and should be considered one of the state’s top teams in Class AA again.
 
Holy Family will be led by seniors Lincoln Cizek, who finished tied for second a year ago, and Tyler Muschewske, who will need to build on a tie for 44^th at the state tournament a year ago. For the Fire to give Blake a run, they will need improvement in depth at the back end of the lineup.
 
The boys from Detroit Lakes got off to a great start at last year’s tournament, but faded down the stretch during the second round. The Lakers will be without the services of Isaak Cihak, who finished tied for 13^th, and Aaron Schnathorst, who posted a tie for 42^nd at last year’s event. A core of seniors Ben Unruh and sophomore Hunter Burnside should be enough to make a trip back to Jordan, Minn., at year’s end, along with what should be tough squads in St. Cloud Cathedral and Lake City.  
 
CLASS AAA
Wayzata enters the season as the state’s No. 1 team thanks to a two-stroke victory over Minnetonka at Bunker Hills last June. But the Trojans have a lot of work to do to remain amongst the top teams in Class AAA, losing four varsity players from last season in individual medalist Van Holmgren, Ben Frazzini (T7), Ian Mackenzie-Olsen (T18) and Peder Larson (T24).
 
Losing the duo of Ben Sigel and Miles McCarthy takes a bit of potency out of the Minnetonka lineup, but the Skippers will be led by seniors Jacob Pederson and Sawyer Bailey, as well the talented sophomore Gunnar Broin who should all combine to get Minnetonka back in contention at Bunker Hills
 
Pedersen finished tied for 11^th, while Broin posted a tie for 14^th and Bailey placed inside the top-30, so the question is if Minnetonka can get help from the four-five-six spots  
 
St. Thomas Academy enters the 2018 season as one of the deepest and most experienced state tournament teams, returning all six starters from last year’s third-place squad. As a junior, Muzzy Donohue already has four state tournament appearances to his credit. Fellow junior Brady Arnett is no stranger to the spotlight, appearing at his first state tournament as an eighth grader in 2015.
 
The Cadets’ 2018 lineup rounds out with senior Jack Rowe, juniors Henry May and Gavin Brackey and sophomore Andrew Boemer.