Pender, Titans rule at Region 5 boys golf qualifier

• Lance Pender

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson Trinity senior Lance Pender follows through on his tee shot Tuesday off No. 11 at Heart River Golf Course as members of his group, left to right, Beulah’s Noah Iverson, Heart River’s Zach Miller and Hazen’s Josh Rothe, watch his shot.

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Class B boys golf teams aren’t even to the halfway point of their season. Yet, Dickinson Trinity has already fallen into a postseason-like groove.

The Titans’ narrowly missed a school-record team score and qualified three for the Class B state tournament on Tuesday during the first of this season’s two Region 5 individual qualifying tournaments at Heart River Golf Course.

“We’re at end-of-season form, I would say, because the season has been good, the weather has been decent and we’ve been out here playing and practicing,” Trinity coach Tyler Reisenauer said. “Credit to these guys for working their butts off and trying to improve themselves.”

Senior Lance Pender earned medalist honors with a one-over-par 73, junior Nathaniel Knopik was runner-up with a 74 and eighth-grader Willy Jahner finished in third place with a 76.

Freshman Connor Friske’s 83 helped the Titans finish with a 306 team score, just off the school-record 303 according to former Trinity coach Ken Keller.

“The past two years, there was no way we’d shoot 300s — 330 would be good for us,” Pender said. “Now we really want that 290-something — 299 is that (score) everyone wants to go for. I think we had a good chance at it today. A couple of us left some scores out there.”

Pender was 1-under on the front nine, sinking birdie putts on Nos. 7 and 9, and birdied No. 14. However, he had trouble on the back nine’s par-3 holes (Nos. 12, 15 and 17), taking a bogey on all three.

Still, it was an upbeat day for Pender, who had some struggle early in the season. Reisenauer said the senior’s surge has a lot to do with his mentality.

“He wants to go out there and shoot the low scores and win every tournament,” Reisenauer said. “He put too much pressure on and it restricted him from shooting the numbers he’s been shooting the last two tournaments.”

Knopik said he saved himself three birdies with consistent putting.

“The greens were rolling nice,” he said. “I was putting like no other today.”

Hazen’s Brett Leier had the only other qualifying score with a six-over-par 78. The qualifying cutoff was a 79.

Beulah finished runner-up on the team side with a 328 and Hazen shot a 332.

Region 5 teams have two meets they can attend this week. The Center-Stanton Invitational is Friday and Bowman County hosts its invite on Saturday at Sweetwater Golf Course. The next individual qualifying tournament is at 9 a.m. next Tuesday at South Heart’s Pheasant Country Golf Course.

The state tournament isn’t until May 28 and 29 at the Oxbow Country Club south of Fargo.

Pender said while the Titans played well today, he hopes the team can only get better.

“Hopefully we can get closer to that record,” Pender said.

“It’s a good look for us now. That gives us a month, exactly, until state. For us to be shooting this well now before state, getting ready for the state tournament and the regional tournament is exactly what we wanted. It’s what we’ve been looking for since the beginning of the year.”

Region 5 Individual Qualifying Tournament

At Heart River Golf Course, Dickinson

Notes: Scores under 79 automatically qualify for the Class B state tournament. Tiebreakers went through top six individuals for awards purposes.

Team scores: Dickinson Trinity 306, Beulah 328, Hazen 332, Heart River 348, Killdeer 372, Bowman County 401, Beach 408, Southern McLean 436, Glen Ullin-Hebron 460.

Individual Top 10: 1, Lance Pender, Trinity, 73. 2, Nathaniel Knopik, Trinity, 74. 3, Willy Jahner, Trinity, 76. 4, Brett Leier, Hazen, 78. 5, Mike Berg, Hazen, 80. 6, Noah Iverson, Beulah, 80. 7 (tie), Zach Miller, Heart River, 82; Hunter Obrigewitch, Beulah, 82. 9 (tie), Connor Candrian, Beulah, 83; Connor Friske, Trinity, 83; Zach Kessler, Beulah, 83.

Other finishers

Dickinson Trinity (306): David Pokorny 88, Jaret Lee 96.

Beulah (328): Derek Morris 88, Logan Obrigewitch 93.

Hazen (332): Josh Rothe 87, Jackson Smith 87, Collin Lindquist 95, Kyle Lindquist 95.

Heart River (348): Mitch Krebs 85, Joey Wagner 89, Colton Pool 92, Seth Keator 101, Brady Synnes 110.

Killdeer (372): Brock Pittsley 84, Riley Rhode 91, Bubba Roshau 95, Garret Tabor 102, Cody Johnson 108, Tanner Rohde 131.

Bowman County (401): Sheldon Maychzak 93, Daulton Braaten 99, Brandon Orcutt 103, Jayden Hofland 106, Ryan Sime 106, Tracy Roemmich 149.

Beach (408): Bobby Szudera 93, Jayce Huffman 96, Aaron Rolczynski 105, Trey Paul 114, Kyle Bagley 115.

Southern McLean (436): Jack Zimmerman 94, Devin Hanson 103, Gunner Hyttinen 105, Braydee Hanson 134, Tanner Due 146.

Glen Ullin-Hebron (460): Logan Wehri 98, Austin Wanner 102, Thomas Krizan 118, Tanner Hofer 142.

Flasher-Grant County (NS): Jacob Heidenrich 116.

Hettinger-Scranton (NS): Denver Lueck 106, Tanner Stippich 110, Devin Faller 125, Tanner Hofer 142.

Mott-Regent (NS): Austin Kautzman 94, James Warner 100.

New Salem-Almont (NS): Andrew Hulm 87, Eric Kautzman 101.

Shiloh Christian (NS): Nick Reynolds 107, Elliot Stone 108, Hunter Aus 132.

Standing Rock (NS): Cody Yellow Fat 160, Tyrel Iron Eyes 164, Taran Fox 165.

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