SIOUX FALLS – There’s not a whole lot more hardware the Aberdeen Central girls’ golf program could have returned home with on Tuesday.

The Golden Eagles collected the team trophy, the individual champion, three all-tournament finishers and four all-state performances on the final day of the Class AA girls’ golf state tournament at Prairie Green Country Club.

Led by individual medalist Olivia Braun, who dipped under 70 yet again with her round of 69 on Tuesday, the Golden Eagles marched steadily away with the team title, finishing with a two-day total of 625, 18 strokes better than runner-up Mitchell.

It was a fitting end to a season fraught with success.

“What more can you ask for?” said Central coach Kim Zimmerman. “These girls went out and when you have expectations like these girls had at the beginning of the year and did everything they needed to do. It’s pretty gratifying and impressive how they handled that. All the credit goes to them.”

Braun, who led after Monday’s 1-under round, followed that up with a 3-under 69 on Tuesday, claiming a state title that eluded her last season. But true to form, Braun was more keen on talking about the team title than her individual one.

“The individual definitely felt good because last year I got runner-up,” Braun said. “We had a great team this year, placing four in the top 25. Emma (Dohrer), Kyley (Wirebaugh) and Chloe (Vikander) are just really good teammates. They all played really well, and I played really well, and I think that showed in our team score. Just really happy to take the team title.”

Braun said her play was fueled by the little things, namely, her putter.

“My putter was really working today,” she said. “I hit I think 13 greens or something like that. I think I played really well today, and I think that showed in my score. Overall I just tried to take one hole at a time and go from there.”

Meanwhile, Dohrer claimed fourth and Wirebaugh was fifth after firing identical rounds of 77 on Tuesday. 

“We were just telling ourselves it’s 0-0 right now,” Dohrer said of her approach to the day. “We’ve got to start over and keep the mindset to keep on the gas and not let up.”

Wirebaugh, a sophomore, said the team victory was a balm on what she felt was a sub-par round for her, especially since the team title was a first in Aberdeen Central history.

“It’s pretty nice,” she said. “The first win for Central is pretty nice to have under your belt. I think it’s just really nice because we worked so hard all year and past years just to come up short so many years in a row. So to finally get it is just amazing.”

That feeling of grasping something that was as elusive as it was expected did not escape Zimmerman’s notice.

“These are high school kids,” he said. “Yes, some of these kids have been through the state tournaments since they were in middle school, but to handle that, people constantly talking about it and asking about it, not only them, but me. We didn’t try to bring it up a lot at practice and talk about it throughout the year. But they knew it. I didn’t have to tell them, they knew what was talked about and what was expected of them. And then to go out and do what they did, that’s really gratifying. That’s a credit to them, and they need to appreciate this, because they accomplished something that’s hard to do. Winning a state golf title, any title for that matter, is impressive. Golf is hard to do. Anybody who has never played it has no idea. Just watching it on TV, they make it look so easy, but it’s hard. To go out and hit the shots they hit and to go out (Monday) and today, it was fun to watch. It was fun to watch them compete and grind things out and not give up. All those things we talk about during the season in practice, they went out and did this past weekend.”

Vikander, a junior, rounded out Central’s team score, finishing in a tie for 21st.

“Chloe’s weekend kind of got overlooked,” Zimmerman said. “She had a lot of pressure on her. She knew that fourth score is very important, probably more so on her than anybody else.”

The state title goes down as a first, not just for the program, but for Zimmerman himself. The Golden Eagle celebrated with the golf course version of a gatorade bath – ice water in cups.

“It was fun, because the girls enjoyed it,” Zimmerman said. “Anything that makes them happy makes me happy. The only thing I said was it would have been better (Monday) when it was 90 degrees than today when it was 70 degrees. But all is good. I’m happy. I enjoyed seeing them smile and enjoy the moment of what they accomplished this weekend.”

With nary a senior on the roster, the Golden Eagles look to return the entirety of its roster for next season.

“I think it’s reassuring to all of us that we finally got one,” Wirebaugh said. “But knowing that we all could have saved so many strokes out there, it’s just going to be super good for the team, I feel, to come back and be better than ever and grow together.”

But first, some time to reflect and enjoy.

“We’re going to sit back and enjoy this one for a while,” Zimmerman said. “You have to. These things don’t come along very often, so when they do, you’ve got to take a step back and really enjoy it.”

To see complete tournament results, click on the following link:

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11544451608007956237