Girls win HOL golf title

By news@perhamfocus.com

May 23, 2007 at 11:00 PM

By John George

In a way, the Perham girls golf team is kinda like the 2006 Twins. They started a little slow, then picked things up while playing in catch-up mode.

They finally caught up and tied their Tigers (Pelican Rapids). And on the final day, they passed them.

Without ever holding sole possession of first place all season, the Lady Jackets finished strong and won the Heart O' Lakes Championship for the second straight season.

Perham won the first-nine at Wildflower G.C., led by eighth grader Holly Karkela's medalist round of 48. Jeanna Kratzke, Abby Huebsch and Nikki Mattfeld all tied with 49's.

Perham also won the second nine as Mattfeld earned medalist honors with a 44. Leah Richter was second (45) and Jenine Estlick was third (46).

Rain played a big factor. The meet was delayed at the start because of an early afternoon storm. Faced with the prospect of only getting in nine holes, rather than 18, because of more forecasted rain, coaches decided to modify the format.

Rather than spread both boys and girls over all 18, not knowing when play might be interrupted or stopped, the girls played the back nine twice and the boys played the front nine twice. That way if the tournament had to be stopped after nine holes, but before 18, coaches could guarantee all the teams played the same nine holes.

"We had about a 30 minute delay to let the thunder and lightning go through and then we started at about 1:30," girls head coach Cory Solberg said. "The kids probably played for about 10 minutes and then it down poured! But after that it was fine, and turned out to be a pretty nice day."

A nice day indeed. Perham trailed Pelican Rapids since the first meet of the season. They tied two weeks ago and have neck-and-neck since.

"The girls played awesome," Solberg said. "I am very proud of how they kept their composure and stayed mentally tough for the entire day."

Mattfeld led a crew of five Jacket golfers to earn All-Conference honors. Mattfeld was second in the conference with a 45.6 strokes per round average in HOL meets. Kratzke had a 47.1 average, followed by Richter (47.4), Karkela (48.1) and Estlick (48.1). It's the second All-Conference mention for Mattfeld, Kratzke and Estlick.

Nicole Hanson of Pelican Rapids was the HOL's low scorer with a 44.3 average.

Boys finish 4th

The Perham boys made up some ground on D-G-F in the season standings by finishing third Monday at the HOL Championships. D-G-F still was able to edge the Jackets for third place overall for the season by finishing fourth on Monday.

After being tied heading into the 18-hole final, Hawley/Ulen-Hitterdal came away with the Conference crown with a 323 Monday. Agassiz Valley was second Monday (331) and on the season.

Perham had won six straight HOL titles.

Taylor Henrickson of Agassiz Valley was the medalist with a 76. He also won the individual season scoring title with 38.2 average, Chris Clark of DGF had the second best season average with a 38.8.

Perham had a pair of golfers earn All-Conference honors. Junior's Nick Dockter and Barry Nelson each finished with a 42.7 average. It's Nelson's second straight Al-Conference season.

Two other Jacket golfers, senior Mike Guehna and freshman Alex Phelps, finished the 18-hole HOL Championship Monday tied for sixth place with 82's along with Taylor Frank of Battle Lake.

"We played o.k. today," boys head coach Jeff Tweeton said. "The conditions weren't great, but they weren't any better for anyone else."

Tweeton said both H/U-H and Agassiz Valley will be formidable in the 6A North Sub-Section Meet today (May 24) at Pebble Lake G.C. in Fergus Falls. The top-two teams and the top-10 individuals not on the top-two teams advance to the Section 6A Meet, also at Pebble Lake G.C. on May 29.

"I'd like to see two-three individuals advance to Sections," Tweeton said. "I think we have two or three that are capable. You never know if they go out and shoot their best round. This is the time to do it. If you don't put it together here, your season's over."

Thursday, May 17

D-G-F Invite

HOL Team Scores

1. Agassiz Valley 168, 2. Hawley/Ulen-Hitterdal 171, 3. Perham 172, 4. D-G-F 175, 5. Pelican Rapids 181, 6. Battle Lake 182, 7. Frazee 184, 8. Lake Park-Audubon 198, 9. West Central Area 204, 10. Breckenridge 206.

Medalist: Chris Clark (DGF) 39.

Perham Individuals: 5. Nick Dockter 41, Mike Guehna 43, Barry Nelson 44, Nick Smith 44, Alex Phelps 49, Dan Cavanagh 58.

Monday, May 21

HOL Championships

at Wildflower Golf Club

Girls Team Scores (Back 9, 1st Round)

1. Perham 195, 2. Pelican Rapids 207, 3. Agassiz Valley 223, 4. H/U-H 227, 5. Breckenridge 252, 6. WCA 255, 7. Lake Park-Audubon 255, 8. Frazee inc.

Medalist: Holly Karkela (P) 48.

Perham Individuals: 4. Jeanna Kratzke 49, 5. Abby Huebsch 49, 6. Nikki Mattfeld 49.

Girls Team Scores (Back 9, 2nd Round)

1. Perham 182, 2. Pelican Rapids 196, 3. H/U-H 215, 4. Agassiz Valley 219, 5. WCA 233, 6. Breckenridge 264, 7. LP-A 267, 8. Frazee inc.

Medalist: Mattfeld (P) 44.

Perham Individuals: 2. Leah Richter 45, 3. Jenine Estlick 46, 5. Kratzke 47.

All-Conference: Mattfeld (45.6 HOL Average), Kratzke (47.1), Richter (47.4), Karkela (48.1), Estlick (48.1).

Season Champion: Nicole Hanson (PR).

Boys Team Scores

1. H/U-H 323, 2. Agassiz Valley 331, 3. Perham 337, 4. D-G-F 341, 5. Pelican Rapids 349, 6. Frazee 351, 7. Battle Lake 364, 8. WCA 391, 9. Breckenridge 398, 10. LP-A 408.

Medalist: Taylor Hendrickson (AV) 76.

Perham Individuals: T-6. Guehna, Phelps 82, Smith 85, Dockter 86, Nelson 87, Cavanagh 94.

All-Conference: Dockter (42.7 HOL Average), Nelson (42.7).

Season Champion: Hendrickson (AV).

HOL (Final) Girls Standings

Perham 14

Pelican Rapids 16

Agassiz Valley 36

Hawley/U-H 37

West Central Area 53

Breckenridge 54

LP-A 70