Lake City in Front of Detroit Lakes, Looking for First Class AA Crown; Guggisberg Sets Pace with 73

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  JORDAN, Minn. – In five appearances at the girls’ Class AA championship, Lake City has finished as runner-up twice, most recently at last year’s tournament, falling to Detroit Lakes. Firing a team score of 332 in windy conditions Tuesday, Lake City has a chance to claim its first Class AA title by taking a five-shot lead over Detroit Lakes to open the championship at Ridges at Sand Creek.

“It was a battle today and I must say our girls hung in there,” Lake City head coach Steve Randgaard said Tuesday. “The winds were gusty and swirling along with the pressure of the whole thing, but I think our girls did a really nice job of grinding out their round.

“Certain holes—especially 12 to 15 on the back—you’ve really got to play smart. On the front you’ve got to get by the 4-5-6 combo—that’s a tough combo. I think that’s a really critical part of this course,” he said. “We tried to be aggressive on the par-5’s but so many of them were in our face today.”

The Tigers were led by senior Lexi Geolat who fired an opening round 76 after playing her front nine at even par and will begin Wednesday’s final in third place, three shots back of individual leader, Ashlyn Guggisberg.

Fellow senior Olivia Matzke’s first-round 83 helped add to Lake City’s lead Tuesday, finishing the opening 18 tied for 11th with freshman teammate Ava Wallerich.

“Lexi at 76 is a really good round and Ava [Wallerich] got out to a rough start at 4-over through three, but I like the way she battled back,” Randgaard said.

“Having five shots isn’t that much of a lead, but it’s better than being behind by five. We talk about what we need to work on but I think staying hydrated and the fitness part of it will be huge tomorrow, I think. We tee off later in the day and it could be pretty toasty by then.”

The boys may have dealt with the heat earlier Tuesday, but the girls had to contend with much gustier winds in Jordan, adding to the difficulty of the 5,486-yard layout.

Detroit Lakes, winners of four titles over the past five seasons, got a boost from junior Maddie Herzog who fired a 78 Tuesday to help boost the Lakers into second place with one round to play. Sophomore Shelby Busker’s 83 and an 87 by senior Abby Schramel helped the effort for Detroit Lakes as well.

Guggisberg began her round on the tenth tee and dropped an early shot with a three-putt bogey at the 11th. She gave away another stroke with a bogey at the par-5 13th before a tap-in birdie at the 16th to get back to 1-over for the day.

Finding the green with her second shot at the par-5 18th, Guggisberg was unable to convert her eagle chance from eight feet, but had another short tap-in birdie and turned at even par.

“I knew where I was after the first nine and I thought it should’ve been better with the way I was putting, but knew there was a lot of golf left and I just wanted to stay focused. I knew if I kept plugging away, sooner or later they had to fall,” Guggisberg said.

Unable to get any birdie opportunities to fall on her back nine, Guggisberg played a much steadier back with a single bogey at the second to finish ahead of the field by two shots at 1-over par 73.

“I hit the ball really well but I struggled putting today,” she said. “I bet I had 36 putts but I hit at least 15 greens so that was my strength today.”

Making her third state tournament appearance this week, Guggisberg said for the first time she didn’t have a number in her head prior to the first round.

“In years past I’ve always had a number and it’s never gone that way, so this year I’m doing something totally different. I’ve had great practice rounds and then come out the next day and didn’t play good, so yesterday I had more fun and didn’t care about [practice round] as much. Today I got my focus back and played well.”

Guggisberg carded back-to-back rounds of 82 at the event last to finish tied for 12th, while her best finish came in 2015, shooting a pair of 78’s to finish tied for eighth.

Defending individual champion Anni Heck will begin Wednesday’s final round two shots back of Guggisberg following her round of 75. Heck started slowly with three bogeys on her opening nine, but was able to roll in three birdies over the final nine holes with two bogeys to card a 75 in the tough conditions.

“Today could’ve been a lot better,” Heck said following her round Tuesday. “Two three-putts really killed me and on the first nine holes I left putts on the edge never going in. I really didn’t leave many shots out there besides those three-putts, so there’s really not much else I could’ve done. Tomorrow I’m planning to go low and get some strokes back.”

The final round of the 2017 Minnesota State Girls High School Class AA Championship is scheduled to begin at noon Wednesday at Ridges at Sand Creek.



2017 MN STATE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
RIDGES AT SAND CREEK
JORDAN, MINN.
5,486 YARDS, PAR 72


TUESDAY’S TEAM RESULTS
1. Lake City – 332
2. Detroit Lakes – 337
3. Visitation – 345
4. Minnewaska – 347
5. Breck – 351
6. International Falls – 355
7. Jordan – 372
8. Osakis – 414


TUESDAY’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Ashlyn Guggisberg, Minnewaska, 37-36—73
2. Anni Heck, Visitation, 39-36—75
3. Lexi Geolat, Lake City, 40-36—76
T4. Alayna Eldred, Osakis, 40-37—77
T4. Alex Stone, Pequot Lakes, 41-36—77
6. Maddie Herzog, Detroit Lakes, 38-40—78
7. Morgan Kranz, Sauk Centre, 38-42—80
8. Abby Benson, Jackson County Central, 41-40—81
T9. Grace Hillemeier, Byron, 38-44—82
T9. Ally Tiedeman, Crookston, 40-42—82


For complete tournament results go to: www.mshsl.org/mshsl/golfscores.asp?gender=Girls&class=AA