Midgets sit in 9th place after first day
The Dickinson High golf team had a solid day from its Nos. 1 and 2 golfers, but the biggest surprise came at the end of the day.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Austin Fournier
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The Dickinson High golf team had a solid day from its Nos. 1 and 2 golfers, but the biggest surprise came at the end of the day.
Freshman Alex Priebe, who is the team’s No. 6 golfer, posted an 85 to help give the Midgets a 340 after the first day of the Class A state golf tournament on Tuesday at Heart River Golf Course. They are tied for ninth place in a field of 12 teams.
“He really played well, I’m really happy for him,” Dickinson head coach Sara Berglund said. “He really stepped up. He was hitting the ball well and straight. We needed another score in there.”
Seniors Tanner Halter and Austin Fournier each supplied 83s to lead Dickinson. Priebe supplied the team’s third-best score and senior Luke Hanel added an 89.
Fournier said it was positive to see all four scores in the 80s since conditions were difficult to play in.
“I think it just shows that scores are still there,” he said. “We all took scores in the 80s today. I feel like if we play like we did today and pray for better weather, we’ll be fine.”
The other score for the Midgets was Carter Donnan’s 92. Shay Ridl, the team’s No. 4 golfer, withdrew from competition because of back injury problems. Despite withdrawing, he is available to continue play on the second day.
Fournier wanted to give credit to Priebe for coming through.
“That’s huge that he came in with that,” he said. “I think that was huge that he came out with an 85. I was thinking that we were going to take a 90 score or something. That was really big of him.”
The weather conditions for the day were thought to be breezy, but early on it turned gusty and stayed that way the entire day.
“It was ungodly windy out there,” Berglund said. “There were a few holes out there that were playing extremely tough.”
Halter was in good position after the front nine, shooting a 39. He wanted to duplicate that performance to set himself up for a top-10 place going into the second and final day. But it just wasn’t in the cards for Halter as he posted a 44 on the back nine.
“I just tried going for that,” Halter said with a laugh. “I was just trying to go for a 39 or better, but the wind was killing me.”
With the windy conditions, everyone’s short game was going to need to be on point. Halter and Fournier said the biggest keys of the day were putting.
“My putting helped me out a lot,” Halter said. “I was gaining a lot of my strokes back from my putting.”
Though the wind played a mental factor, Fournier was happy with his round and said he wouldn’t have changed much.
“It was windy, so there wasn’t really much you could do anywhere on the course,” Fournier said. “I was happy all around.”
The Midgets head into the second day looking for improvement. Berglund wants to see progress from round-to-round.
“I think they are looking forward to playing tomorrow,” Berglund said. “I think it’s not supposed to be as windy. They’ll take anything over today’s weather. I think they’re pretty excited.
“The biggest thing is we want to see is improvement from today to tomorrow. I think they are ready for it. They know kind of how the greens are rolling.”
Dickinson had its third round against golfers from the East Region and Berglund said she was happy with the composure portrayed by her team.
“It’s the best golfers in the state and the best teams in the state,” she said. “It raises the competitiveness and puts a little more pressure on you, but I think they like that. They didn’t fall apart under the pressure.”
Tags: dickinson midgets, sports, midgets, preps, golf
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