WATERTOWN – It was another banner day for Aberdeen Central at the Class AA State Golf Tournament on Tuesday.
Olivia Braun won her second straight individual championship to help lead the Golden Eagles to back-to-back state team titles. Central won the team crown by a dominant 23 strokes.
The Golden Eagles had four members in the top 13 places.
“When they were seventh and eighth graders, I thought, well if they work hard at it and put some time in, there’s a chance for this team to be really good and sure enough they did that,” said Central coach Kim Zimmerman, “and look what happened the last two years.”
Central, which owned a nine-shot lead heading into the final round, steadily pulled away as the day wore on.
“We just kind of built on that lead today,” Zimmerman said. “It didn’t get under where we started the day.”
While there was no team suspense, there was plenty of excitement in the chase for the medalist.
“Even though the team title was kind of set early on,” Zimmerman said, “that individual was kind of up for grabs until that last putt was holed on 18 with Olivia.”
Braun trailed by two strokes heading into the back nine before pulling out a one-stroke victory over O’Gorman freshman Ari Jacobs.
“It was really fun. It was a really competitive match,” Braun said. “I think I learned from it. It was a good experience, a fun experience.”
The senior, who is headed to golf at South Dakota State next season, said her state titles were not even close to being the same.
“They were so different. I can’t even compare the two,” Braun said. “A lot of mixed feelings, especially since this one’s going to be my last one and so I think going into today, I tried to take it one hole at a time and soak it all in since it was my last meet.”
Fellow senior Chloe Vikander, who tied for 13th, capped her final round of golf with a hole-in-one on number 15.
“I was going for the middle of the green, had a pretty rough hole before that, and so I was like OK, just get on the green, and like two putt,” Vikander said. “The wind kind of just pushed it back and then we just heard the flag stick. We couldn’t see it because it was tucked behind a bunker, and then we got up there and the girl in my group said, ‘Oh my God it went in.’ “
Emma Dohrer finished third with a 147 and Kyley Wirebaugh tied for fourth with a 149.
Winning another state team championship was a fitting way to close out the career for Dohrer.
“Obviously, we knew after last year the job wasn’t done yet and we were still hungry for another one,” Dohrer said. “It’s a very good way to finish my senior year.”
Dohrer said it was tougher to defend a state championship than winning the first one because of the expectations to do it again.
“A lot of people were kind of coming for us. … We had a lot of pressure on us,” Dohrer said. “We knew all year that we could do it, but just coming in and actually getting it done and doing it, that’s was really nice to see.”
Geneieve Golz tied for 22nd, giving Central three all-tournament team members and five all-staters.
It marked the final competition for Braun, Dohrer, and Vikander, a trio that has left a lasting legacy on the program.
“You can’t replace the three that we’re losing. It’s just not possible,” Zimmerman said. “It’s kind of bittersweet today for me today, obviously. … There’s no better way to go on top the way these girls did. I feel good about that.”
To see complete tournament results, click on the following link:
