Bearcat golfers finish strong in post-season play

By Editor | July 2, 2024 |

By Diane Younggren, coach
The KCC Bearcat Girls’ and Boys’ Golf teams traveled to Roseau to participate in Sub-Section play Tuesday, May 21.
Both Bearcat teams entered the sub-section after posting personal best scores the week before during the last Border Conference meet. This day proved to be a challenge for the boys’ team. They finished with a team score of 395. Leading the boys was Jaydon Nordin posting a score of 90, which qualified him to advance to the Section 8A Tournament in Bemidji.
Others counting for KCC were: Gavin Johnson – 102; Jack Whitlock – 100; Gus Gunnarson – 103; Koston Nordin – 104; Braxton Wallenberg – 123.
The KCC Girls started the day strong. Throughout the first nine holes they jockeyed back and forth for second place. However, the back nine found them running into trouble and the team ultimately finished tied with Sacred Heart for fourth place with a team score of 422.
Kasey Waling led the team with a score of 97 and a fourth-place finish overall. Following close behind was Mackenzie Casper with a score of 108. Both of these girls qualified for play at the section tournament.
Saydi Olsonawski also finished strong, posting a score of 115. She went on to a playoff against Alicia Brewer from the West Marshall-Tri-County Fusion for the last golfer moving on to Section play. Olsonawski found tree trouble during the first playoff hole which ended with Brewer advancing.
Other golfers for the girls were Ellie Bernstrom – 122; Kealy Preble – 127; Kaia Gunnarson – 128.
The Section 8A Tournament was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28-29 at the Bemidji Town and Country Club.
The first day of play was cloudy and a bit cool but no rain for the day. After a practice round, the KCC golfers felt prepared for what they would meet that day.
Waling played a steady game and finished day one with a score of 104 and in eighth place overall.
This was Casper’s first experience in section play and she performed well. She finished the first day with a 116, which is a great score for this challenging course.
This was Nordin’s second trip to section play and he was hoping to bring a strong game. Unfortunately he ran into trouble hitting strong shots and finished with a first day score of 101.
Day two was a beautiful golf day! Sun, no wind and comfortable temperatures made for perfect playing conditions. Casper again played well but found how taxing playing back-to-back days on this course can be. She finished the round with a 127 and a two-day score of 243.
Nordin also came back the second day hoping to better his score. He managed the course better and posted a 97 at day’s end and a tournament score of 198.
Waling attacked the day setting a goal of bettering her hole-by-hole score from the previous day. She too ran into a few issues as the day went on but managed to keep her composure and posted a 96 for the day and a two-day score of 200. This placed her sixth overall and she will move on to the State 8A Golf meet at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker, Minn., on June 11-12.