After the first 18 on Friday, Junior Trey Soydara was tied for the lead with Eden Prairie’s Matt Armstrong after both golfers shot a 1 over 73.  Not far behind were the duo of Aaron Shelstad (74) and Hayden Shol (74) who would go on to make some noise on Saturday. 

“The day started out with a soaking rain but eventually turned into probably the nicest day of golf we’ve had this year,” according to coach Matt McGovern.  “Actually all the boys played great.  We had 3 of the top 4 golfers after day 1 and that included a great Eden Prairie team.”  Other scores for the Otters after day one were Chance Fazio (81), Michael DeBrito (84) and Charlie Fuder (95).  The Otters shot an impressive 302 on day 1 to be 3 shots back of Eden Prairie. 

Saturday morning turned into another grind with the golfers facing windy and cold conditions.  “My favorite thing about golf is that all the golfers on the course face the same conditions.  No day is like the day before.  Some people quit mentally when the weather isn’t perfect, the Otter Boys are tougher than most,”  McGovern said.

Day 2 is when Shelstad and Shol really shined.  They both shot impressive 75’s which were the 2 low rounds of the day.  Soydara backed up a bit with an 80, as did Fazio (89) and DeBrito (100) while Fuder improved by a stroke (94).  When all was said and done there would be a 3 person playoff for individual medalist between Shelstad, Shol, and Armstrong of Eden Prairie.  “With about 75 people watching the playoff, Shelly drained a 25 footer for birdie on the first playoff hole.  It was pretty awesome.  Hayden played a perfect hole hitting the fairway, hitting a wedge to 8 feet, and burned the edge on his putt. Armstrong made a bogey which meant Aaron won the tournament and Hayden finished 2nd,” McGovern said. The Otters ended up in 2nd place with a 2 day score of 621 losing to Eden Prairie who finished with a 609. 

The Otter JV team also competed in the tournament.  They were led both days by 7th grader Riley McGovern who had impressive rounds of 90-91 (181).  Other scores for the JV team were 7th grader, Davis Shol (203), 8th grader, Aidan Swenson (206), 7th grader, Gavin Goepferd (214), 7th grader, Ryan Nelson (220), and Sophomore, Sam Western (224).  “We have such a young team, seeing these guys compete from the same tees as the Varsity, and playing with mostly upperclassmen from the other teams, was sure impressive.  I’m very proud of all of them,” added McGovern.

Next up for the Otters is a CLC meet at Blackberry Ridge in Sartell on Monday, and the JV will compete in Willmar on Tuesday. 

The Otters are coached by head coach, Matt McGovern, assistant coach, Travis Johnson, and Middle School coach, Trevor Larson.