PIERRE – Aberdeen Central recorded its season-best score on the way to a second-place finish at the Class AA State Girls’ Golf Tournament at Ridgeview Golf Course on Tuesday.
The Golden Eagles shot a blistering 303, but it wasn’t quite enough to make up a seven-stroke deficit to eventual state champion Mitchell. The Kernels (616) edged Central by three strokes (619) for the team title.
“Words really can’t describe the effort that these girls put in today,” said Central coach Kim Zimmerman.
Central ended up with four all-state golfers (top 25) and were right in the hunt for a state team championship until the very end.
“This is by far and away the lowest team score I can recall since I’ve been coaching,” Zimmerman said. “To post a 303 on the second day of the state tournament, granted it was a good scoring day, but … anytime you have four or five scores in the 70s and you don’t use one of them, it’s pretty phenomenal the effort that these girls put forth today.”
The Eagles were led by Olivia Braun, who was actually tied for the lead for a brief time on the back nine. She ended up third and earned all-tournament honors. Huron’s Bryn Hofer edged Mitchell’s Alison Meyerink in a one-hole playoff to earn the individual state championship.
Central, which trailed by 11 strokes at one time during the day, eventually closed the team gap to a single stroke, but could never quite get over the hump to catch the Kernels.
“We gave it a good run. I think we scared them a little bit coming down the stretch. That’s what we wanted,” Zimmerman said. “We were in contention for an individual championship and to catch them for a team championship. I hope that fueled the fire a little bit for the girls and motivate them, I’m sure it did, for next year.”
Zimmerman said playing a two-day tournament out in the heat is much different than a regular-season one-day event.
“It’s mentally and physically draining. People who don’t do that don’t understand what these kids went through today and (Monday),” Zimmerman said. “I just really commend their efforts. They just did an outstanding job.”
As well as the Eagles played, they couldn’t catch Mitchell, which took advantage of that seven-stroke lead they built during the opening round.
“They’ve been playing well. They really have,” Zimmerman said. “They just built a little bit too big a lead (Monday) on us.”
Emma Dohrer finished in a tie for ninth, Morgan Jones was 12th, Leah Gough was tied for 18th, Kyley Wirebaugh finished 31st, and Chloe Vikander tied for 39th.
The top 25 finishers are designated as all-state.
“We lose one senior, Leah Gough,” Zimmerman said. “I was a glad to see her make all-state. She’s been so close the last two years.”
He said it was a fitting way for her to finish off her prep career.
“It’s always a good feeling to end out your high school golf career with an all-state award honor,” Zimmerman said.
The coach also pointed out the performance of Morgan Jones who shot a team-best 74 in the final round.
“Morgan is just elated, the round that she had,” Zimmerman said. “She’s been struggling and working so hard on her game. For her today to make all-state really paid dividends for the time and effort that she put in.”
Last year, the Golden Eagles faltered on the final day of the state tournament, but that was not the case this time around as the squad saved its best round of the year for the final day of competition.
“Today was a kind of redemption day somewhat,” Zimmerman said. “It’s not a win, but it’s the next best thing considering how we played.”
For complete tournament results, click on the following link:
