It could not have been scripted any better for the Aberdeen Central girls’ golf program.

The Golden Eagles shot a school-record round of 295, led by medalist Olivia Braun, during its only home meet of the season at the Hub City Invitational golf tournament at Lee Park Golf Course on Thursday.

“It’s an enjoyable day. Just all the way around,” said Central coach Kim Zimmerman. “It’s the one home meet you have during the year, and you want to do well. I’m just happy for the girls.”

Central had a strong delegation of golfers led by Braun who shot a one-under-par 71. Kyley Wirebaugh was runner-up with a 73, Emma Dohrer was fourth with a 74, and Chloe Vikander was eighth with a 78.

“It’s a credit to the girls,” Zimmerman said. “This is what you like to see with all their hard work, time and effort that they put in during the season or in the offseason, this is when it comes to fruition.”

While Braun was the only golfer under par, the junior said she had a bit of an inconsistent round.

“I ended really well,” Braun said. “I was really up and down today, so had to figure out a way to kind of get consistency back, and I think I did a really good job on the back nine of doing that.”

Braun had a memorable shot on hole number 13, where she managed to skip a ball across a water hazard.

“I got really lucky,” Braun said. “I thought for sure it was in the water.”

When asked how many times she’s done that before, Braun responded, “Once in a lifetime. I’ve never done that before.”

While the weather was favorable for the most part, the wind began to make its presence felt about midway through the tourney.

“I kind of like playing in the wind,” Braun said, “because a lot of competitors don’t know how to play in the wind, so I think it’s an advantage on my part.”

Wirebaugh continued her stellar play so far this season. The sophomore was focused throughout her round.

“This year I’m just trying to be mentally stronger. Golf is a very mental game and some people don’t know that,” Wirebaugh said. “I’m just trying to hang in there and know that you’re not going to have a perfect round. There’s always going to be strokes that you can get back, but you just got to put out a good score and help the team out.”

While there are ways to refine technique, Wirebaugh said the squad pays close attention to the mental aspect of the game thanks to Zimmerman.

“We have practices where when it’s raining out, we don’t take a day off,” Wirebaugh said. “We go inside the clubhouse and he says here are 12 tips to be mentally strong, and we write those down and we talk about them every practice. He knows that we all have it in us, we just mentally have to be there.”

While Lee Park is technically not the course that Central practices on, it was still the only home action of the season and the Golden Eagles were motivated.

“It was our home tournament. We came out very strong,” Dohrer said. “We knew what we needed to do and we did that. We all played very well, which was very encouraging to see, too.”

The junior said there are a lot of variables that go into playing a solid round of golf.

“Every course we play, you just have to adjust to it every day and get a feel for the greens, get a feel for how the fairways are feeling, how wet out it is,” Dohrer said. “We got some rain (Wednesday), you’ve just got to take that all into play.”

Mitchell was runner-up in team points, while Aberdeen Roncalli finished a strong third. The Cavaliers were the only Class A squad in the tournament.

“They did very well,” said Roncalli coach Jon Murdy. “Our second tournament of the year, throwing them to the wolves to play with AAs.”

The Cavaliers were led by eighth-grader Mackenzie Wegehaupt, who finished sixth with a total of 76. She said she was plenty nervous playing with some of the state’s elite golfers.

“I was so scared,” Wegehaupt said. “I literally couldn’t fall asleep (Wednesday) night.”

However, Wegehaupt had nothing to worry about producing a career-best score.

“She’s always had that ability to play, but last year she had that growth spurt, and this year she’s kind of created that muscle that goes with that growth spurt,” Murdy said. “She’s always had the technique and ability to do it, but now she’s got the strength to do exactly what she wants to do.”

Wegehaupt tried to keep things in perspective during her round.

“Honestly, I just took shot by shot like Jon told me to,” Wegehaupt said. “I tried not to think about the score, but it was really hard.”

While only a couple of tourneys into the season, Wegehaupt is having a solid spring.

“I definitely gained a lot of confidence from the last tournament,” Wegehaupt said, “so I’m going to gain even more from this tournament.”

Roncalli’s Claire Crawford tied her career best score of 78 on her way to finishing in ninth place.

The junior played in a three-some that included Braun and Mitchell’s Maddie Childs (who finished third), two of the state’s premier golfers.

“I think some people would get a little scared and kind of be timid and back off and get nervous, but I enjoyed it, playing against good people,” Crawford said. “You can’t be content with how you’re playing. You’ve got to be aggressive.”

Crawford, a standout golfer in her own right, made sure she wasn’t going to back down from the challenge.

“I didn’t want them to kick my butt,” Crawford said. “I might not beat them, but I want to stay close to them and do my best.”

Like Central, Roncalli used individual contributions from a variety of players to put together a solid team score of 337.

“Golf isn’t just an individual sport, it’s a team sport,” Crawford said, “and Mackenzie played really good today.”

Murdy said it’s those individual scores that produce the team total.

He told his players, “If we do well as a team, it’s because you guys are doing well as individuals.”

Central plays on Monday in Sioux Falls, while Roncalli competes in an event Tuesday at Dell Rapids, before hosting its own invitational next Thursday at Lee Park.

To see complete results, click on the following link:

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11182614669774863386