Class 2A Golf: Pequot girls hope to close in final round

Class 2A Golf

Team: Pequot girls tied for third; 13 back of Detroit Lakes

Boys individual: Staples-Motley's Andrew Israelson shot 15th-place 73; Little Falls' Kyler Erdman shot 25th-place 75

Girls individual: Pierz's Jessica Hawks is tied for 17th with an 82

Next: Final round Class 2A state tournament at Ridges at Sand Creek, Jordan, 7:30 a.m. Wednesday

Hole No. 9 was not kind to the Pequot Lakes girls.

The Patriots opened their quest for a Class 2A state title Tuesday at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan teeing off on the 10th hole. That made the daunting par 4 ninth hole their last.

And the hole won.

"On the last hole, three of the scores we had to count, we gave away nine strokes just on that hole," said Pequot Lakes head coach Jon Dale. "It's the No. 1 handicap hole. It's a tough par 4. It's really long. There's water and traps. You have to lay up with about 170 yards left. It's a tough hole, but our score added up on that hole."

The Patriots received a 76 from Maggie Heggerston. Alex Stone shot an 80. Amanda Nies shot an 82. Sam Olmscheid and Bella Abear each fired 87s for Pequot's 325, which has them tied with Minnewaska for third. Detroit Lakes owns a 13-stroke lead over Pequot Lakes. Red Wing is sitting second six shots ahead of the Patriots.

Heggerston is currently tied for fifth individually after shooting 37-39. Minnewaska's Jenna Janu and Kate Smith each shot 68s for the first-round individual lead.

"Maggie bogied the last hole," Dale said. "She just didn't make any putts. She struck the ball well. She missed an eagle putt that was makeable. She just didn't make any putts, but she can turn that round. She just didn't get a whole lot going. She didn't play terrible."

Stone is tied for 13th. Nies is tied for 17th. Olmscheid and Abear are tied for 39th and Megan Snyder is only a shot back of them tied for 47th.

"We still have a chance," Dale. "We'll be paired with Detroit Lakes and Red Wing, which we weren't today. I think that will help. You aren't playing against anybody individually, but you've got to be in the competition. It's not like we're out of it. We have a shot. They drop six shots. We improve seven shots and we're tied."

One of the people Nies is tied with at 17th is Pierz's Jessica Hawks, who enjoyed her best round at state. The senior shot nines of 42-40 for an 82. She is four shots out of the top 10.

"She looked really good and she was striking the ball very well," said Pierz head coach Jessica LeBlanc. "She did have one quadruple bogey, otherwise the score would have been lower. It was just an all-around good round. She played the par 3s really well. Each of her iron shots were right at the pin."

Hawks opened up last year's state tournament with an 85 before finishing with a second-round 87 to tie for 34th with a 172.

"She was a lot more relaxed this year and she was making very wise decisions," LeBlanc said. "I think she plays (Wednesday) the exact same way she did today, but hopefully a few more putts will fall. She didn't make any long putts today."

Boys

Andrew Israelson shot a 1-over 73 Tuesday and was disappointed.

But as Class 2A's co-defending state champion, he has a right to be. The Staples-Motley junior used a chip-in eagle on hole 18, his ninth hole, and a birdie on the first hole, to get his round to 2-under, but struggled in the middle holes of the front nine. He fired nines of 38-35 for his 73, which has him in 15th place, six shots behind first-round leader Reece Sanders of Blake.

"I just didn't play that well," said a dejected Israelson. "It was a pretty good day to score. It was 85 degrees the entire round. It was a good day to score. I just missed my opportunities. I didn't play bad, but it wasn't good either."

Israelson's plan of attack for Wednesday's final round: "Play better."

"I just need to hit a couple more fairways," he said. "I was plying from the rough most of the day and so I wasn't getting too shots into the greens. I'll switch it up and be more aggressive, especially on those first eight holes."

Two shots back is Little Falls senior Kyler Erdman, who is sitting in a seven-way tie for 25th place with is 3-over 75. Erdman shot 38-37 in his first state tournament.

Boys Team scores: 1-Blake 296, 2-Mankato East 297, 3-St. Cloud Cathedral 301, 4-Holy Family 301, 5-Triton 316 , 6-Crookston 317, 7-Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 325, 8-Worthington 330

First-round leader: Reece Sanders (Blake) 31-36 - 67

Little Falls results: Kyle Erdman 38-37 - 75

Staples-Motley results: Andrew Israelson 38-35 - 73

Girls Team scores: 1-Detroit lakes 312, 2-Red Wing 319, 3t-Pequot Lakes 325, 3t-Minnewaska 325, 5-Breck 338, 6-St. Cloud Cathedral 366, 7-Blake 376, 8-Albert Lea 380

First-round leader: Katie Smith (Detroit Lakes) 68, Jenna Janu (Minnewaska) 68

Pequot Lakes results: Maggie Heggerston 37-39 - 76, Alex Stone 39-41 - 80, Amanda Nies 40-42 - 82, Sam Olmscheid 43-44 - 87, Bella Abear 42-45 - 87 , Megan Snyder 44-44 - 88

Pierz results: Jessica Hawks 42-40 - 82

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .