Sports
County golfers brave elements, take on Oxbow
Tyler Ohmann
06/05/2012
Three golfers from Bottineau County schools tested their skill at Oxbow Golf Club this past Tuesday and Wednesday at the Class B State Golf Tournament.
Zack Monson of Bottineau, Trevor Hulse and Hunter Braaten of Westhope experienced the perils of state as individual qualifiers out of Region 4.
All three battled high winds and chilly conditions on day one of the tournament. Braaten finished highest of the three, carding a day one total of 89. Monson shot a 91 and Hulse struggled early, but finished with a 98.
“The first day was pretty rough, I started off double (bogey), double (bogey) I think,” Hulse said. “I got it together towards the back nine, so it was all right. It was a fun round regardless of the score.”
Monson had an up and down day getting several pars, but also a couple of bad holes.
“The first day went all right, but it was windy and cold and I had a lot of errant shots,” Monson said. “I didn’t take advantage of my good ones.”
Braaten stayed fairly consistent with nine-hole scores of 44 and 45.
Mother nature cooperated on Wednesday, day two, and it showed.
Each of the three Bottineau County qualifiers improved their scores on the second day with Braaten edging out Monson for day two’s best score out of the trio.
Braaten shot a day two total of 84 after bouncing back with a 39 on the back nine of the day’s round.
Monson shot a front-nine 41 and a back-nine 44 for a total of 85 on the day. Putting was an issue and a couple of bad holes, including a quadruple bogey were the cause of what Monson considered an off day.
“The weather was really good, but I just couldn’t capitalize on birdie putts, and I had a few blow up holes,” Monson said.
Hulse too improved carding an 89 despite losing five balls on the day, three of which came on hole 18, where Hulse took the stroke maximum of 10.
“It was beautiful (day two), and I started off good, parred my first five holes, but hole 18 gave me a little trouble,” Hulse said. “The back nine I started bogeying some holes, but I shot an 89 and I was happy with my score and happy with the day.”
Braaten’s two-day total of 173 put him in 32nd place for the tournament. Monson, who was in his third state tournament appearance having made it the past two years with the Bottineau team, finished in 42nd with his two-day total of 176.
The junior said he knew what to expect, having been at state the past two years.
“It was easier because I knew what I was going into, but I just didn’t shoot well this week,” Monson said. “I tried to golf the same (as previous years) and do my best, but I maybe took some more risks this year.”
Hulse’s total score of 187 put him in 77th place for the tournament. The Sioux senior said he was glad to have the opportunity to play at state, and to have such overwhelming support.
“It was my last high school event and I’m glad to be so blessed to be from such a good school,” Hulse said. “Everybody is so nice, and I’ve got fans out here supporting me and Hunter Braaten, both of us, and I am so blessed to have this whole experience.”
Though it was all three of the golfers first times at Oxbow, they seemed to agree that the course was nice, and fun to play.
“It was very fun, and it was a very fun course,” Hulse said. “As long as you stay out of trouble it’s fun, and there were a lot of good golfers out here.”
Region 4’s Nick Myhre and Jack McClintock finished two, three in the tournament. Mhyre had the day-one lead, but surrendered it to David Talley of Kindred on the second day. McClintock made a charge with a day-two 73, but fell four strokes shy of Talley, who fired rounds of 77 and 72.
Talley’s team of Kindred won the team title for the second straight year. The Vikings obliterated the competition, beating second place Fargo-Oak Grove by 43 strokes, including a 35-stroke advantage on day two.