Jamestown may not be sending a team to the Class A state golf meet, but outgoing coach Dean Kraft feels good about the quality that will be representing the Blue Jays at Edgewood Golf Course in Fargo.
Senior Nick Stockert and junior Austin Rene are headed to today's state meet after averaging a 79 during the season, which placed them in the top 10 in the state. They made it by score during an individual qualifier earlier this season.
"They have not had very consistent years between the two of them," said Kraft, who has taken over as head golf coach at the University of Jamestown. "But both have shown they're capable of posting good scores."
Stockert, a senior, missed a few meets due to a hockey commitment, but came on strong at the end of the year. He had three consecutive rounds in the 70s before shooting an 81 at the regional.
"For the most part, it's been pretty good," Stockert said. "I've had pretty good tournaments, but I do give up a couple of strokes each round. I feel like I could be doing a little better."
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Stockert has been playing on varsity since he was a seventh-grader, and he's hoping that experience pays off the next two days.
"I just need to keep my head," Stockert said. "If I start a round off not so well, it can get to me. I beat myself up. It usually doesn't bode well for the end of my round."
Kraft said Stockert needs to putt well to post a solid round.
"Tee to green, he's a good ball striker," Kraft said. " He's kept the golf course pretty narrow. He just has not putted as well as he would have liked. Hopefully, that changes for him at state, because his ball striking is very dependable."
Rene has faced an up-and-down season, having shot four consecutive rounds in the 80s. He looked to have bounced back with a 75 and 76, but shot an 85 at the West Region meet.
"For Austin, it's the other way around (from Nick)," Kraft said. "He gets wild off the tee, direction-wise. He's pretty reliable in his short game, and he's an aggressive putter that hits the ball to the hole, which you like to see. He's working on things with his swing, but it's probably put a little bit of doubt in his game."
Kraft said the key for Rene could be an old golf term, "grip it and rip it."
"When you're as good as he is, it's all this little stuff that's going through your head," Kraft said. "It's hard to know what adjustments to make. You can't play golf and start going through checklists."
