Waling does well during first appearance at state golf

KASEY WALING, KCC golfer, scored a 101 and 98 for an overall score at the State Class A golf tournament June 11-12 to place in the middle of all golfers. This was her first appearance at the state tournament. (Submitted photo)

By Diane Younggren, coach
KCC Bearcat Golfer Kasey Waling made her first appearance at the State Class A Golf tournament held at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker, Minn., on June 11-12.
“Kasey’s skills have grown throughout the 2024 season and she definitely brought a positive mindset ready to experience the state meet,” says Coach Diane Younggren.
This year the girls played the afternoon rounds. The first day the boys were delayed in the morning due to storms in the area, which put the girls’ tee times back 30 minutes.
The skies cleared in the afternoon and the day heated up. The course was in excellent playing condition even though they had had lots of rain days prior to the meet.
After settling her nerves a bit and getting off the first tee, Waling settled into her normal routine. She had a few issues with some water hazards and found reading the greens more of a challenge than she had experienced in the past. That being said, she posted a 101 for the first day of play, which is a great score for a newcomer to the state experience.
Day two brought on more stormy weather and this day the girls’ tee times were backed up an hour.
Waling had put her nervousness behind her and had set goals for the day. She drove the ball well but fell a bit on her second approach shots. Waling’s chipping was great, setting her up for better scores than day one. On hole No. 5 on the back round of play, Waling found herself fighting her way out of the sand bunker in front of the green.
At the end of play for day two Kasey had posted a 98, 3 strokes better than the day before, and an overall finish in the middle of the field of all golfers.
“Kasey is a hard worker, she will return as a leader of the KCC Girls’ team next season and I have no doubt that this will not be her last trip to the state tournament,” Younggren said.
Waling reflected, “My favorite thing about the state meet was playing the Pebble Creek Course, meeting new people and of course, sitting in the hot tub during the evenings. I learned that I need to be more patient with myself sometimes when things aren’t going right. It is easy to get upset and do way worse than you want. I hope to keep improving my score by staying in the bogey and par range or better, and make another appearance down at state!”