“We saw improvement throughout the year and the girls were playing their best golf in late May and early June,” noted Head Coach Ben Jurgens.  “Making it through our sub-section as a team was a first for us.  The girls worked so hard to accomplish their goal and that was fun to see.  We didn’t graduation any players from last years’ team so we have a lot of varsity experience returning.  Not everyone played in every varsity meet, but they all earned some playing time throughout the year at the varsity level.”

Seniors Greta Christenson, Amy Johnson, Mady Eklund, Maddie Oswald and Sydney Thacker, junior Lexi McGary and freshman Ellia Soydara are all back.

Girls that played quite a bit of JV golf last year who may challenge for varsity time this year include Kenzy Braeger, Thea Eklund, Ella Mayer and Talia Nelson.

“One of our strengths is that we have great numbers,” said Coach Jurgens.  “We have 35 girls in grades 7 through 12.  Now, many of them are new to the game and therefore inexperienced, but if they stick with it we should be competitive for years to come.  Another strength is our junior and senior leadership.  They are great kids and leaders.  These are the girls you want mentoring the kids new to the game.  One of our weaknesses is we simply have not played enough golf in the summer and that’s where you take your game to the next level.  We hope to put something together for them this summer for those interested.”

Jurgens sees Detroit Lakes, one of the top teams in the state, as the favorite in Section 8AA, with talented teams from Perham and Pequot Lakes also in the mix.  In the Central Lakes Conference, Alexandria and Brainerd should compete for the top honor.

Jurgens will be assisted by Dan Sternberg (Junior Varsity), Jason Hastings (Middle School), Elizabeth Abrahams (Middle School) and Wade Jyrkas (Volunteer Swing Coach).