Ledwein Perseveres at Chaska TC, Edges Smith to Win Junior Girls

By Mike Fermoyle (mikefermoyle@gmail.com) 

CHASKA -- Taylor Ledwein could very well be Minnesota's most under-rated junior golfer of the last decade. 

She has been one of the state's elite players since she was in ninth grade, and finished in the top 10 in the Class AAA portion of the state high school tournament every year since then, improving her 36-hole total each year, from 157 to 150, to 149, to 143 and winning the large-school individual championship as a junior and again this year as a senior. She also won the biggest tournament of the Minnesota girls high school regular season, the Red Wing Invitational, with a record score of 66 at Mississippi National.

Through it all, Ledwein really never got the credit she deserved. She always seemed to be playing in the shadow of someone else. First, it was her New Prague teammate -- and two-time state high school champ -- Kenzie Neisen. For the last two years, it was the Detroit Lakes prodigy Kate Smith, who was completing a record-setting run of five consecutive state Class AA titles.

So it was probably fitting that on Wednesday, in the last tournament of her junior golf career, the Minnesota Junior Girls State Championship, attention was focused mainly on other players until the very end. But then Ledwein played the last four holes at Chaska Town Course in 2 under par and won the tournament by a single stroke over Smith.

The high school tournament gets more publicity than any other tournament the juniors play, but the Junior Girls is a better test, because the girls aren't spread out over three different courses.

"It's a great tournament, and a great field," Ledwein said afterward. "Everyone's here. All the best players. I'm really happy to have won it." 

Ledwein started nicely on Wednesday but had to play through a nasty patch -- 5 over in an eight-hole stretch -- before making two late birdies, which gave her a 1-over-par 73 and a two-day total of 145.

Smith, who shot 77 in the opening round, continued to go in the wrong direction for a while on Wednesday. She bogeyed two of the first four holes. But she eagled the seventh hole, which sent her off on a run of 6 under for the next 10 holes. At the 510-yard, par-5 18th, she hit two gorgeous shots and was green high, only to have her short game betray her. The University of Nebraska recruit needed four shots to get into the hole from approximately 100 feet away and ended up making a bogey on the last hole.

She still shot 69, which was the low score of the day by four strokes, but the cumulative 146 was one too many, and she had to settle for second place.

Grace Kellar was sensational on Day 1, making birdies on seven of the first 10 holes she played on the way to a 69. On Day 2, she picked up pretty much where she had left off. She made a double bogey at the fifth hole, but she compensated with a pair of birdies on the front nine and was four strokes ahead when she got to the 11th tee. This was her first time in contention for a state championship, and she struggled on the last eight holes.

The Edina senior-to-be wound up with a 79, but her overall 148 was still good enough for third. 

Another soon-to-be-senior, Red Wing's Stephanie Herzog, also got off to a good start, hitting her second shot to 3 feet at the first hole for a birdie. But she bogeyed three of the next four holes, and a triple-bogey 8 at the seventh hole eliminated her from contention. She was 7 over after 11 holes, but played the last seven in even par to salvage of 79, and she finished fourth at 150. 

Hannah Hankinson, who graduated from Edina a few weeks ago having been a part of eight state championship teams (five in tennis, three in golf) -- she also had two second-place individual finishes at the state golf tournament -- shot 76 on Wednesday to claim fifth place with a 154. And the defending champion, Anni Heck, who capped off her junior year at Visitation three weeks ago by tying Smith for the Class AA individual title, posted 78 for the second day in a row. The resulting 156 was good for sixth. 

Chaska Town Course measured 5,705 yards for the Junior Girls tournament, which is several hundred yards longer than any of the three courses that were used for the state high school tournament. But there were three drivable par-4's, and the par-5's were reachable in two for the longer hitters; so there were ample opportunities for birdies. On the other hand, there were water hazards in play on most of the holes, including Nos. 11 through 18. 

With that in mind, it shouldn't be all that surprising that there were wild swings in momentum during Wednesday's final round. 

Ledwein teed off on No. 1 trailing Kellar by three strokes, and it stayed that way as they both went par-par-birdie-par through the first four holes. Then Kellar made a double bogey at the 331-yard, par-4 fifth, and Ledwein birdied it, her second birdie in three holes. Suddenly, they were tied, both 2 under for the tournament. 

Meanwhile, one group in front of them, Smith had made bogeys at the 305-yard, par-4 first and the 100-yard, par-3 fourth. At that point, she was 11 behind, at 7 over, but Kellar's double reduced her deficit to single figures. She was now nine behind. 

Ledwein began going backwards with a bogey at the 154-yard, par-3 sixth, and even worse, she bogeyed both of the par-5's on the front nine, the seventh and ninth. Kellar was just short of the 511-yard ninth in two and got up and down for a birdie, which gave her a four-stroke advantage over Ledwein (Minus 3 to Plus 1) as they headed for the back nine. 

Up ahead, Smith had started to make her move at the 495-yard, par-5 seventh. Her hybrid second shot left her a few yards from the green, and she chipped in for a 3. She birdied the ninth, as well, which put her at Minus 1 for the round, and Plus 4 overall.

Kellar came back almost Ledwein by making a bogey at the 11th (336 yards, par 4) and then four-putting for a double at the par-3 12th (132 yards). But Ledwein thinned her tee shot into the water hazard in front of the tee at the 13th (285, par 4). Kellar then hit her tee shot into the hazard left of the fairway. She made a bogey and was over par for the tournament for the first time (Plus 1), but she was back two ahead of Ledwein, who made a double (Plus 3).  

Smith had birdied No. 13. The winner of Minnesota's first Ms. Golf Award probably should have birdied 14, too, but she missed a 3-footer. Undaunted, she hit a wedge to 5 feet and made that one for a birdie at the 15th (472, par 5). She followed that up by hitting her drive to within 20 yards of the 276-yard, par-4 16th and making an 11-footer for birdie, which got her to 4 under for the day -- and 1 over for the tournament.

Although she didn't know it just yet -- but would find out in a couple of minutes --  Smith was now leading. That was because Kellar had just bogeyed the 15th and dropped back into a tie -- at Plus 2 -- with Ledwein, who made a 15-footer for birdie on the same hole.

"People were telling me what Taylor and Grace were doing in that last group," Smith said. "I kind of like knowing what's going on with other players, but I don't know if that helps. Sometimes I think that you should just pay attention to your own game, and not worry about anybody else. Who knows?"

Kellar also bogeyed the 16th, but Ledwein hit her drive roughly 10 yards short of the green, hit a nifty little pitch to 4 feet and made her second birdie in a row, thereby climbing into a tie for the lead with Smith at Plus 1.

They were two ahead of a dejected Kellar, but she crushed a drive at 17 (310, par 4), hit a lob wedge to 8 feet and made the birdie putt. That resurrected her chances and got her back to Plus 2. 

The par-5 18th at Chaska TC hugs the water hazard to the left of the fairway all the way to the green. Actually, the hazard guards the front of the green.

After a long drive, it's still risky to go for the green, but laying up is no bargain, either, because the fairway isn't all that wide. When Smith hit her second shot past all the trouble and onto the hill to the right of the green, she seemed to have gotten all the hard work out of the way. A decent pitch would pretty much guarantee a par and give her a good chance at a birdie. But the lie was severely downhill, and she didn't make solid contact with her wedge.

Her ball didn't even get to the green. Now she had to chip from 70 feet, and she got it to 8 feet. From there, she missed the putt. 

Ledwein nearly hit her drive into the hazard. The ball stayed dry -- barely -- but the stance for her second shot was awkward, the ball well above her feet. She laid up and hit her third shot to 30 feet. From there, she two-putted, and the trophy was hers. 

"I was just hanging in there," said Ledwein, who will be heading off to Peoria, Ill, in August to begin her freshman year at Bradley University (and, as a result, will miss the Minnesota Women's State Open and the Women's State Amateur). "There were some problems in the middle of the round, but I got through them. I knew I needed to make some birdies on the back nine, and that was really all I was trying to do."     


Minnesota Junior Girls State Championship

At Chaska Town Course

Par 72, 5,705 yards

Chaska

Final results 

1. Taylor Ledwein, New Prague               72-73--145

2. Kate Smith, Ironman                            77-69--146

3. Grace Kellar, Olympic Hills                  69-79--148

4. Stephanie Herzog, Red Wing              71-79--150

5. Hannah Hankinson, Edina                   78-76--154

6. Anni Heck, Southview                          78-78--156

7. Brianna Vetter, Bracketts Crossing      77-80--157

8. Jade Newman, Bunker Hills                 81-78--159

9. Morgan Bleyhl, Elk River                     76-84--160

T10. Alayna Eldred, Osakis                      80--81--161

T10. Alexandra Geolat, The Jewel           81-80--161

12. Sarah Sontowski, Baker National       78-85--163

T13. Taylor Minger, Edinburgh USA         82-82--164

T13. Megan Welch, Bracketts Crossing   80-84--164