5-Putt Doesn't Derail Ledwein; Edina Wins with Record Score

By Mike Fermoyle (mikefermoyle@gmail.com) 

COON RAPIDS -- Taylor Ledwein made winning a second straight individual championship in the Class AAA portion of the Minnesota state high school tournament look relatively easy on Wednesday -- except for  one hole. 

The New Prague senior was cruising along, 1 under par through 13 holes at Bunker Hills Golf Course, and when she hit her second shot onto the green and about 35 feet from the cup at the 430-yard, par-5 14th (No. 5 West), her triumph appeared to be a done thing. Then she five-putted -- yes, five-putted! -- for a double bogey. 

"That shook me up a little," she admitted afterward. 

It was the sort of thing that could cause a golfer to come unraveled. But not Ledwein. On the next hole, the 368-yard, par-4 15th, she ripped a drive of about 265 yards and hit her 58-degree wedge to within a foot of the hole for a tap-in birdie. 

"I kind of needed that after the five-putt," she said. 

If there had been any doubt, the bounce-back birdie at No. 15 eliminated it, and the Bradley recruit concluded her second round with pars at the 17th and 18th holes, as she shot an even-par 72. That gave her a 36-hole total of 143 and a six-stroke victory over senior Hannah Hankinson of Edina and sophomore Megan Welch of Lakeville North.

Welch was the only girl to break par on Wednesday; she rallied from an opening round of 78 with a 71 on her way to an aggregate of 149.

"After I shot 78 yesterday," he said, "I wasn't really thinking about winning. I was just too far back, and Taylor's too good. So I was just wanted to shoot as low a score as I could and then see what happens."

There was an element of deja vu for Hankinson, who was also second to Ledwein last year.

"I didn't play my best yesterday," she conceded, "but I got it up and down and saved a lot of pars. "Today, I was trying to focus on every shot and not worry about anything else." 

Her second-day 74 helped Edina win the AAA team championship for the second consecutive year, and for the eighth time overall -- more than any other school. 

The Hornets set a large-school scoring record Tuesday with a combined 298. On Wednesday, they posted put together a 312 (the third-lowest single-day total for Bunker Hills), and that was good for a record 36-hole total of 600. The old record of 622 was set by Wayzata in 2014.

Edina, which finished 98 strokes ahead of second-place Wayzata in the Section 6AA tournament, won their state title by 36 strokes over Forest Lake. The 2015 Class AA champ, Red Wing, which opted up into AAA this year, was another two behind, in third with a 638. The Wingers were the only team to defeat Edina in any tournament this year, in the Irish Invitational at Emerald Greens in early May. But no team came close to threatening the Hornets at Bunker Hills.

Their dominance was reflected in the fact that they had five players in the top 10 individually: Hankinson (T2), Christine Portillo (T4, 150), Grace Kellar (T4, 150), Katie Engelking (9th, 153) and Isabelle Ouyang (10th, 155). 

This was the eighth state high school championship for Hankinson, who has been on three winning teams in golf, plus five in tennis.

'I've always pretty much stopped playing golf near the end of the summer, to get ready for tennis," she noted. "But I'm not playing tennis anymore." 

Instead, she will be playing golf at Augustana this fall. 

In addition to being Ledwein's second title in a row, it marked the fourth consecutive year that a girl from New Prague has won the Class AAA individual championship. The Trojans' Kenzie Neisen tied Sarah Burnham of Wayzata for the crown in 2013 (the Minnesota State High School League doesn't not break ties at the state golf tournament), and Neisen won again the following year -- with a record score of 135 to Burnham's 136.

Neisen's sister Steffi is now the New Prague coach. 

"They've both helped me more than I can say," Ledwein said of the Neisens. "They've encouraged me, and been mentors to me, and they showed me what it takes to play high school golf at a really high level. I owe a lot to them." 

With the notable exception of the five-putt, Ledwein's 72 on Wednesday seemed relatively stress-free. At 5 feet, 2 inches, she was one of the shorter players in the field, but she was also one of the longest hitters. (The Red Wing Invitational, which is played at Mississippi National, has the strongest field of the girls golf season every year. Ledwein, who owns the tournament record for lowest score, a 66, didn't play especially well this year, but she did win both of the long-drive contests.)

She made good use of her length on Bunker Hills' shortest par-5, the 405-yard fourth (No. 4 East), knocking a 7-iron onto the green and two-putting for birdie. Her other birdie on the front (East) nine came at the 314-yard, par-4 ninth, where she hit her tee shot over the water hazard and then plunked a 52-degree wedge shot 2 feet from the hole. At the 430-yard, par-5 11th, she hit a 6-hybrid second shot 10 feet from the cup and two-putted for another easy birdie.


Minnesota State High School Tournament 

Class AAA

Girls 

At Bunker Hills Golf Course

Par 72, 5,551 yards

Coon Rapids 
fee
Final results 

1. Edina                298-312--600

2. Forest Lake      317-319--636

3. Red Wing         322-316--638

4. Stillwater          321-335--656

5. Chanhassen    327-342--669

6. Buffalo             339-351--690

7. Woodbury       341-350--691

8. Mounds View  350-363--713

Individuals 

1. Taylor Ledwein, New Prague           71--72--143 

T2. Hannah Hankinson, Edina             75-74--149

T2. Megan Welch, Lakeville North        78-71--149

T4. Christine Portillo, Edina                  72-78--150

T4. Grace Kellar, Edina                         75-75--150

T4. Cayla Kim, Stillwater                       71-79--150

7. Kate Schaaf, Forest Lake                 79-72--151

8. Ally Rogers, Spring Lake Park         76-76--152

9. Katie Engelking, Edina                     76-77--153

10. Isabelle Ouyang, Edina                  79-76--155

T11. Julia Hall, Hopkins                        72-84--156

T11. Stephanie Herzog, Red Wing       78-78--156

T11. Sophia Yoemans, Red Wing         79-77--156

T14. Kristen Cash, Mounds View         76-81--157

T14. Annemarie Fisher, Woodbury       79-78--157

T14. Bridget Amundson, Alexandria     80-77--157

T14. Molly Stevens, Northfield              76-81--157