DSU opens spring season at Heart River

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An early spring is helping the Dickinson State golf team prepare for the continuation of this season, as well as next year.

The Blue Hawks kick off the spring season Thursday with the two-day DSU Invitational at Heart River Golf Course. Tee times begin at noon.

“Obviously with a home tournament to begin you hope to come out and have a strong start to the second season,” DSU coach Cory Fehringer said.

The DSU women ended the fall season leading Jamestown College in a two-way battle for Dakota Athletic Conference. The men’s team is third behind Jamestown and Valley City State.

This is the final season of the DAC and DSU will join the Frontier Conference next season.

DSU sophomore Chandler Pender said team’s youth — the Blue Hawks have one senior on both the men’s and the women’s teams — is helping them prepare for the future.

“We’re a young team, for the most part,” Pender said. “If we can play well, it’s going to give us a lot of confidence going into next year.”

Coming into the fall, senior Tony Elliot is leading the men’s team. He has been the team’s most consistent player so far and ranks fifth in the DAC standings.

Pender is in ninth, freshman Tristen Long ranks 11th and junior Brian Quintus, freshman Austin Harper, junior Zorst Gustavsp and sophomore Matt Altner have all had their shining moments.

“We have a really good one through four, we just struggled to get that fifth score consistently,” Fehringer said. “The guys have been mixed and matched quite a bit.”

The women’s team is driven by parity. Freshman Jenna Wellenstein ranks fourth in the DAC standings coming into the spring with junior Caitlin Hurlock, sophomore Paige Kamminga, freshman Laura Duppong and senior Brittany Backen in lock step behind her.

The Blue Hawk ladies also get a boost this spring with the addition of freshman Stef Bohrer, a Hazen native who came to DSU with the intentions of playing basketball before torn ligaments in her knee forced her to give up the sport.

Bohrer was a part of Hazen High School’s Class B state championship teams and knows her way around area courses.

“I was kind of devastated when I knew my body wasn’t going to let me play basketball anymore,” Bohrer said. “But I was excited to know that I could golf and could still be a part of a DSU sport. I’m not in a sport that may not be physical, but it’s very mental. For me, that kind of switches gears, but in a way it’s kind of good for me.”

Promising weather has helped the Blue Hawks after years of tormenting them and other area teams.

“It’s strange being out and being able to play the first week of April, you know,” said Pender, a Dickinson High School graduate.

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