Teeing off into a light, 12-mile-per-hour west-northwest wind and sunshine was a great way to start the day for 154 high school golfers.
The first day of the 2020 North Dakota Spring Golf Championships at Riverwood Golf Course in Bismarck concluded Tuesday evening. The event organized by Glen Ullin native Chris Geiss sought to provide golfers across the state a chance to compete in a final spring tournament. The tournament was open to those who did not have the chance to compete this season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's been going pretty smooth," said Geiss, the event organizer. "Face of play has been good, kids are finishing rounds in about four hours, crowds have been huge - large galleries following each group- so, I mean, it's been everything we wanted it to be and more."
The tournament includes three divisions: Class A boys, Class B boys and Class B girls. Awards will be presented to the top 10 finishers in each division at the end of the tournament.
Geiss said from a spectator's -- and father's -- perspective, watching the area athletes compete was half the fun. Geiss' son Gehring is in a five-way tie for the 13th spot after day one. Gehring and defending Class B state champion Parker Bartels both carded an 84 the first round.
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"It's good to see the kids getting back together with each other," Geiss said. "The kids didn't have their high school season and we had to do something to keep them interested and give them something to look forward to. That's basically all we were trying to do was fill the void and I think we have accomplished that. Life seems pretty good for the kids - they really enjoyed today."
Darynt Carroll, a recent Jamestown High School grad, said it felt good to be back on the course after no spring sports season.
"It was great to compete again," Carroll said. "One of the things I missed most about sports was the competition. With golf, I also missed getting to know different people. The competition was great -- a lot of good players. It’s always fun to play against better players because you want to do better also."
Carroll ended his first 18 holes with 104 while Blue Jay teammates Jed Traux posted 90 and Andrew Walz carded 86. At the top of the Class A leaderboard, it is Jacob Skarperud of Fargo Shanley who leads the field. Skarperud ended the round with an even-par 72. A group of five golfers is in a race for the second spot posting 77 on the day.
"I would say that they probably had more time to practice than they did during the regular school year because of the fact that they were only in school for a couple of hours a day," Geiss said of the talent on the green. "The golf games are pretty sharp for a lot of these kids."
Grayson Wetch of Oak Grove made his mark for the Class B side shooting for an even-par 72 to end the first day. Jacob Robb of Heart River and Kindred's Sam Henke are tied for spot No. 2 with a 5-over-par 77 while there is a 3-way tie for fourth between Mark Olson, Paul Olson and Cody Card at 78.
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Four-time Class B girls state golf champion Emily St. Aubin leads the girls' side carding a 76 after one round. Avery Bartels of Kindred sits four strokes behind St. Aubin while Grafton's Ainsley McClain posted an 83 her first round.
"I think tomorrow is going to be real tight," Geiss said of predicted finishes. "The top 15 kids on the B side boys are going to be really close so that will get real nervous down at the end and Class A looks pretty tight right now, I think it will be perfect for tomorrow."
Individual results
Class A Boys
1. FS, Jacob Skarperud 72; T2. GFRR, Zach Hinschberger 77; T2. FD, Justin Lamp 77; T2. GFRR, Saylor Kuenzel 77; T2. MIN, Gavin Argent 77; T7. GFRR, Koby Kuenzel 78; T7. FD, Ty Satter 78; T7. FD, Sam Suppes 78; T10. BSM, Alex Wilson 79; T10. WAH, Bridger Hansen 79; T10. WF, Zach Teske 79; T10. GFC, Brandon McGarry 79; 14. FN, Carter Peratt 80; T15. FD, Gabe Benson 81; T16. WFS, Bennett Persoon 82; T16. FD, Cameron Bullinger 82; MAN, T16. Trey Hohbein 82; T19. WFS, Blaze Ackerland 83; T19. BIS, Tyce Halter 83; T19. GFC, Brady McGarry 83; T19. GFRR, Grant Gardner 83; T19. WFS, Jayme French 83; T24. FN, Aaron Melby 84; T24. WIL, James Powers; T24. BSM, Jackson Gilchrist 84; T24. WFS, Layton Bartley 84; T24. MAN, Sam Peterson 84; T29. MIN, Peyton Bartsch 85; T29. BIS, Jack Steckler 85; T29. FD, Jayce Johnson-D 85; T29. MIN, Henry Langhans 85; T35. FD, Ryan Drummond 86; T35. GFRR, Jack Miller 86; T35. JAM, Andrew Walz 86; T35. FS, Neal Lindemoen 86; BC, 39. BC, Logan Schoepp 87; T40. GFC, Jack Bryan 88; T40. BL, Logan Barrett 88; T40. BIS, Ian Jelsing 88; T43. FS, Zach Skarperud 89; T43. MAN, Adam Moch 89; T43. MIN, Brock Jones 89; T46. MAN, Sean Seefield 90; T46. WFS, Ethan Frisch 90; T46. D, Jack Homiston 90; BIS, T46. Tarin Walker 90; T46. JAM, Jed Truex 90; T46. GFRR, Grant Gardner 90; 52. MIN, Jacob Theis 91; 53. FN, Dexter England 92; T54. BIS, Kade Rohlfs 93; T54. D, Jace Elkin 93; T54. MIN, Ashton Heilman 93; 57. FS, Dalton Booth 94; T58. MAN, Jayce Johnson-M 95; BSM, T58. BC, Max Murphy-Schumacher 95; T60. BSM, Dylan Bader 96; T60. BC, Dylan Nosbusch 96; 62. FN, Carson Hannestad 97; T63. WIL, Aiden Rustand 98; T63. BL, Kaden Hoffman 98; 65. D, Kyller Hughes 100; 66. D, Grant Bittner 101; 67. BL, Nick Kupfer 102; T68. JAM, Darynt Carroll 104; T68. BL, Andrew Neigum 104
Class B Boys
1. OG, Grayson Wetch 72; T2. HR, Jacob Robb 77; T2. K, Sam Henke 77; T4. K, Paul Olson 78; T4. OG, Cody Card 78; T4. K, Mark Olson 78; 7. BOT, Jaden McCloud 79; T8. K, Max McQuillan 81; T8. OR, Zach Hendrickson 81; T8. LAM, Rory Gentzkow 81; 11. BOT, Max Palmer 82; 12. SB, Zach St. Aubin 83; T13. WMC, Gehrig Geiss 84; T13. DT, Cole Fitterer 84; T13. BEU, Champ Hettich 84; T13. K, Parker Bartels 84; T13. LAR, Dillon Norman 84; 18. LANG, Sid Ulyott 85; T19. HAZ, Mason Wick 86; T19. K, Cole Campbell 86; T19. MPCG, Nic Dale 86; T19. NS, Drew Nichols 86; T23. GLEN, Jordan Anderson 87; T23. K, Brock Woehl 87; T25 OG, Ian Saunders 88; T25. DT, Cade Fitterer 88; T25, GLEN, Luke Anderson 88; 28. DT, Tyler Brousseau 89; T29. GRAF, Aiden McLain 90; T29. FES, Jaxon Fike 90; T31. ROL, Jake Mitchell 91; T31. DLB, Nathan Ferm 91; T33. WMC, Grant Gerving 93; T33. BOW, Karsen Kulseth 93; T36. SP, Kolbi Rolle 94; T36. LAM, Charlie Bowman 94; T38. ROL, Logan Elick 95; T38. HAZ, Tyson Wick 95; T40. LIN, Joseph Fode 97; T40. WMC, Rylen Soupir 97; T42. NOR, Kelby Azure 98; T42. DT, Chris Schneider 98; T42. CAN, Jeremiah Hill 98; 45. HR, Nick Fagerberg 100; T46. STAN, Josh Hetzel 102; T46. TIO Kaden Pederson 102; 48. TIO, Karter Longie 103; T49. KUL, Joe Kramlich 104; T49. ROL, Andre Elick 104; 51. BOT, Zach Barbot 105; T52. LAM, Dane Lebahn 106; T52. DLB, Carter Eide 106; 54. OG, Mason Martinson 107; T55. BOT, Carson Huerer 110; T55. DLB, Elijah Miller 110; 57. DT, Max Lefor 115; 58. DLB, Riley Eide 116.
Class B Girls
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1.SB, Emily St. Aubin 76; 2. K, Avery Bartels 80; 3. GRAF, Ainsley McClain 83; 4. SH, Campbell Clarys 84; 5. SH, Grace Nantt 91; 6. LIN, Erin Kelsch 91; 7. NAP, Ashley Schmitt 92; 8. KULM, Gracie Tjernlund 92; 9. SH, Madison Jarrett 94; 10. SH, Mackenzee Schneider 94; 11. LIN, Kathleen Vetter 95; 12. K, Charli McQuillan 95;13. LEE, Libby Dulmage 99; 14. NAP, Charmaine Haas 100; 15. B, Alexis Lamb 102; 16. GRAF, Carlee Sieben 103; 17. NAP, Emma Ketterling 104; NED, 18. LEE, Madilyn Dulmage 104;19. NAP, Sophie Ketterling 107; 20. ROL, Joslyn Nordmark 107; 21. NED, Hailee Miller 109; 22. ROL Carmen Elick 110; 23. NAP, McKenzie Haas 113; 24. ROL, Marti Mcbery 122; 25. TIO, Chloe Carr 124.
