Home Sports Three Plymouth County Golf Teams Qualify for State Tournament

Three Plymouth County Golf Teams Qualify for State Tournament

The Kingsley-Pierson boys golf team poses with their state qualifying banner. The Panthers have not been to state golf since 1993.

Plymouth County boys golfers had a great day at the district golf meet at Willow Creek Golf Course on Monday. All three team qualifiers to the state tournament came from Plymouth County with Kingsley-Pierson running away with the win shooting a 324 as a team.

The Panthers got a huge spark from Emerson Pratt and Vincent Koelling who kept their scores under 80 each. Kingsley-Pierson head coach Tim Dirksen knew it was going to be a good day for his team who came into the meet with a lot of confidence.

The Panthers are coming off a nice end to the season in which they finished second in the Western Valley Conference tournament and finished second in their sectional meet last week. Coach Dirksen says his team has been consistent thanks to their experience together on the course.

The Panthers will be going on to the state tournament for the sixth time in school history, but it is their first appearance in 30 years. Coach Dirksen says the Panthers do not just want to go down and have fun. He says they want to do some damage, and to do that they are going to need some stellar scores.

The Gehlen Catholic boys golf team poses with their first state qualifying banner in 21 years.

The Gehlen Catholic Jays, who beat Kingsley-Pierson in the sectional, finished second to Kingsley-Pierson in the district meet to qualify for state for the first time since 2002. Gehlen Catholic Head Coach Nathan Carlson knew this year was going to be special because of how eager the kids were to get on the course.

The Jays got the home-course advantage for the district meet which especially came in handy on Monday. The weekend weather brought a lot of rain which changed how the course played in a number of different ways. Coach Carlson says having that baseline familiarity helped his team to adjust.

The Jays missed out on state in a tough way last year with one golfer not getting a chance to compete at districts due to an illness. This year they are moving on and getting the opportunity to have their season continue. Coach Carlson says he hopes the guys can relax in Ames and just play their game.

The Remsen St. Mary’s boys golf team poses with the school’s first-ever state qualifying banner.

Because Gehlen Catholic took second on their home course, that meant this district would send three teams on to state. In that third spot were the Hawks of Remsen St. Mary’s who advanced to state for just the first time in program history. Head Coach Tim Osterman says this achievement is a testament to the work they have put in all season.

Jaxon Bunkers had a good day for the Hawks shooting a 75 to finish third on the individual leaderboard, but the Hawks have not always relied on Bunkers. The Hawks have seen great days from the likes of Hunter Pick, Collin Homan, and many others at the top of their leaderboard. Coach Osterman says that makes his team able to withstand any bad day that could hit one of his best golfers.

When the Hawks get to Ames, it is going to be important that they get going early. Coach Osterman says, in the past, the Hawks have let the first couple of holes get away from them. He says that when you get to state you cannot recover from that.

All three golf teams will compete at the Ames Golf and Country Club in the 1A state tournament that runs two days on Monday and Tuesday May 22 and 23.