The USC girls team nearly made it to Day 2 of the Section tournament, as a team–missed it by just 7 strokes. That is quite remarkable, given 3 of the 4 golfers are new to the team this year. In fact, two of golfers literally hadn’t ever swung a club until 3 months ago. Amazing.
The Sleepy Eye United girls team dominated the team competition, so they will represent Section 2 at the 2023 Class A Girls’ Golf State Tournament in June.
Although the USC girls didn’t qualify for Day 2 as a team, Senior Paige Roberts and sophomore Emma Heggen did qualify for Day 2, as individuals.
Emma shot 105 on Day 1 and 100 on Day 2, for a tournament total of 205–good enough for a 3rd place finish, which qualifies her for the 2023 Class A State Golf Tournament to be held at Pebble Creek Golf Course, in Becker, Minnesota, on June 13-14, 2023. This will be Emma’s first appearance in the state tournament.
Paige shot 122 on Day 1 and 122 on Day 2–how about that for consistency? Her tournament total was 244, and she finished 18th overall. That is impressive, given she just joined golf this year–as a senior. We will miss her next year.
The boys team started slowly on Day 1. So slow, in fact, that it didn’t look like they would qualify for Day 2 as a team. But they got to work on the “back 9” and worked their way into 4th place, as a team–good enough to qualify for Day 2–and for that, they should be commended.
After shooting 350 on Day 1, the USC boys were 13 strokes out of first at the start of Day 2. They played better on Day 2, but were unable to overcome the 13 stroke deficit. In the end, the USC boys improved their finish–into 3rd place–behind JWP and New Ulm Cathedral.
The JWP boys were in first place after Day 1, and they played even better on Day 2, so they claimed the 2023 Section 2A Championship.
With a 7th place finish, USC Junior Kadyn Neubauer qualified as an individual for the boys state tournament. This will be Kadyn’s 3rd appearance in the state tournament–as an individual in 2021, with the USC team in 2022, and as an individual again this year.
It is exciting to see two USC golfers advance to the state tournament, but it is also heartbreaking to see the 2023 season come to an end for the those that did not qualify for state. We bid our seniors farewell and hope to see our underclassmen back on the course next year.