Lee Park Golf Course is about to take center stage.
The local golf course has not hosted a state tournament in eight years, but that will be changing in a big way.
Lee Park will host the Class AA boys state tournament next month, and then the Class A girls tourney in 2028, the Class B girls tournament in 2029 (with the boys at Moccasin Creek Country Club), and then the Class AA girls state tournament in 2030.
“I love hosting these events. I love having the kids here,” said Jon Murdy, golf pro at Lee Park. “It’s great for the city of Aberdeen. It’s great for Lee Park to get the word out that we’re not what we used to be. We’re something better now. It’s a lot of fun to be able to have these events.”
Hosting state events can involve plenty of work and Murdy admitted that will also be the case with a state golf tournament.
“But again, the way that my head always works if it’s for junior golf, kids golf, high school golf, it’s worth it,” Murdy said. “It’s never ever going to be about the paycheck when it comes to this one. It’s always about giving the kids what they deserve to have as an event.”
Lee Park is not the longest course by any means, but Murdy said it can be challenging and provides an ideal setting for high school tournaments.
“It’s that silent, but deadly golf course, where like yeah, it’s not long, yeah, the fairways aren’t very wide, but you can make a big number at any point,” Murdy said. “You can make a birdie at any point, so for high level high school golf, it’s a great track for them.”
Murdy said there are ways to make the course even tougher, but that he doesn’t mind if golfers have record-setting rounds, eighter.
“Can we get the greens growing, can we make the pins tucked? Absolutely,” Murdy said, “but in my head, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a birdie shot. There’s nothing wrong with a kid shooting a course record. There’s nothing wrong with a team school record. You add a title to a name along with a state tournament, nerves happen to where anything can happen.”
Before agreeing to house state tournaments, Murdy checked with his assistants, Charles Kornmann, and Josh Waltman, to get their feedback.
“I sat down and talked with Charles and Josh, our super and assistant super,” Murdy said, “and what are your guys’ thoughts on doing this, and they said if you want to do it, we’ll do it.”
Murdy said Kornmann has been instrumental in the development of the course.
“I can sing all the praises I want for Charles,” Murdy said. “He’s very, very, very good at what he does, and we’re very lucky to have him.”
Hosting the boys tourney exactly one month from today will have a minor impact on the normal course schedule.
“Course-wise, we’ll have to push some things back into October,” Murdy said, “and some of it we’ll actually have to push back into the spring.”
That in turn will impact the course again in the spring.
“For having the girls events and stuff like that in the spring, there’s not much that we can really prevent,” Murdy said, “it’s just more hold on to make sure we can keep what we’ve got going.”
Interestingly enough, Murdy believes that his criticism of some of the other state tournaments across the state, may have helped Aberdeen land these upcoming state events.
“Being the coach for Roncalli, some of the state tournaments I was maybe more vocal than I should have been as a coach on course setup and what not,” Murdy said, “and it’s kind of let’s put your foot in your mouth enough, they’re going to come ask you do it.”
That’s just fine for Murdy, who now gets a chance to give golfers across the state the best possible experience of golfing in Aberdeen.
“Again for me, I love giving the kids the opportunity to have fun at our golf course in a tournament setting to where numerous different kids in the field can be successful,” Murdy said.
