Advancing nine BGMR golfers to the state meet in Becker was quite a feat for the Gator Golf program. Three boys who advanced individually, and the Section 8A Champion girls team consisting of six golfers headed to the meet at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker, MN, on June 11-12. Badger Junior, Bethanie VonEnde, had seen the course three years prior - the last time the girls team advanced, and GMR Sophomore, Ava Christianson, golfed this course in 2023 when she advanced individually to the state meet. Otherwise, this was a new experience for the other seven golfers.
Since golf is dependent on individual scores, I believe that these golfers are always hard on themselves and constantly feel things could have gone better, but for it being the first time participating at state for all three boys, I think they finished decently. Danyn Janousek led the three boys with an 81 the first day, with Masen Swenson and Ty Grinsteiner completing the first 18-hole round with 89 and 92, respectively. The second day of golf for the boys started off with an hour lightning delay, then they golfed through rain, wind, and sun to finish the two-day meet. Seventh grader, Ty Grinsteiner, led the boys on day two with a score of 83, followed by Danyn with an 87 and Masen a 94, both juniors. I know that the boys did not finish where they wanted to overall, but I hope they made some great memories, met new people, and created some friendships along the way through their state golf experience.
On the girls’ side of the state meet, I am certain that there were some nerves among them on the first day of the meet. Most of the team golfed a higher score than I expected the first day, and the team ended the day in 8th place. Emily Burkel led the Gators with an 18-hole score of 96, followed by Ava Christianson with a 101, Khloe Fletcher a 110, and Zairyn Wimpfheimer a 112 to complete the team score of 419. Other scores for the girls were Bethanie VonEnde a 118 and Clara Bergsnev a 137. Since the boys started an hour late on day two of the meet, it pushed back the girls’ start time an hour as well. With bad weather forecasted for the late afternoon, the officials were trying to push the pace of play to get the meet completed before the inclement weather moved in. As it would play out, the first five girls would complete their 18 holes, and our final golfer, Emily Burkel would chip up on to her 18th hole as lightning was spotted and everyone was called off of the course. Golfers were asked to leave their balls and mark them with a tee as they took shelter in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, the decision was made to not complete the round with only 8 of the 84 girls not completing the entire 18 holes. Burkel decided that since she was on the green and ready to putt out her final hole of the state meet that she needed closure and to know what her actual score would have been, so she independently returned to the green and putted her ball in to finish her round. The “official” score for the meet would consist of holes 1-8 and 10-17, scoring only the holes that every golfer had completed. Official 16-hole scores (with actual 18-hole scores in parenthesis) for the day were Ava Christianson 79(88), Khloe Fletcher 87(98), Zairyn WImpfheimer 89(99), and Emily Burkel 90(98) to complete the team score of 345 (383). Other scores for the girls were Bethanie VonEnde 95(108) and Clara Bergsnev 116(135). The girls golfed much better the second day, which showed as they moved from 8th place to finish the state meet in 6th place.
I believe that nine golfers is the most that the program has advanced in program history. With neither the boys or girls graduating any varsity players this season, I look for good things to happen next season for these young golfers. I want to give a huge thank you to my assistant coach Jon Sovde who is there every day with me and the teams, also my other assistant coaches Jeramy Swenson and Jaxon Janousek who volunteer their time and have taken the coaching courses through the MSHSL to be able to coach at meets. Lastly, I want to thank DJ Janousek and Jade Reese for volunteering their time to help these golfers at practices when they could, and all of the parents for their support throughout the season. Without these people, the program would not be as successful as it is.
Congratulations again to the nine state participants!
