Midgets looking for consistent production

• Luke Hanel

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson High senior Luke Hanel tees off on April 20 during the Dickinson Invitational at Heart River Golf Course.

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As the Dickinson High boys golf team enters the midpoint of the season, head coach Sara Berglund is looking for more consistency.

The Midgets will look to control their consistency by traveling to Hankinson for the two-day East-West Invitational that starts Friday and concludes Saturday.

“We’re really excited,” Berglund said. “It’s always a good experience playing with different golfers. Not only with the guys from the West, but you get to see a lot of golfers from the East. There’s a lot of competition at the tournament.”

Dickinson isn’t worried about winning each invitational or tournament along the way. Its eyes are on the bigger prizes when the West Region Tournament and North Dakota Class A State Tournament come to Heart River Golf Course.

“I just feel like we are doing pretty well right now, because WDA and state are here and we’re practicing pretty well with our scores,” Dickinson senior Austin Fournier said. “We aren’t really worried about the other tournaments, but those are basically practice.”

However, this will be the Midgets’ first glimpse of East Region competition.

“There are usually a lot of good players out of the East,” Dickinson senior Luke Hanel said. “They always play pretty solid. I don’t really know what to expect this year, I have seen any scores, but I’m just hoping we can play our game.”

Coming into the season, Dickinson brought back a host of returners. The Midgets currently have three seniors, including Tanner Halter, junior Shay Ridl, and two freshmen, Carter Donnan and Alex Priebe, that make up their roster.

“It makes it a little easier having that experience come back,” Berglund said. “They are a little more comfortable and confident like that.”

Donnan has had a winding road this season. After shooting an 83 at the Williston Invitational this past weekend, the path for Donnan is much clearer - the left-hander can play.

“He’s really excited to get back out there,” Berglund said. “That’s exactly what he needed. He needed a breakthrough tournament. He’s hitting the ball well in practice and he just hasn’t scored like he wanted to. He has now and his confidence is back up.”

The weather conditions have treated golfers kindly. Most of the veterans had been waiting for snow to melt in late April to early May during their careers.

Though the team has had to endure some rainy and dreary conditions, Fournier said that should only make the focus stronger.

“I just feel like practicing in that harsh weather keeps your focus up,” he said. “You have to focus more when it’s wet.”

The Midgets are getting into midseason form a little sooner and Berglund said it’s now time to take it to the next level.

“We want to make sure that we come out and score like we should,” Berglund said. “We are getting to the middle of the season and I want to start on the rise.”

Tags: high school golf, dickinson midgets, sports, golf