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Dominating the conference is one thing, but competing, check that, winning the section is different. A lot different.

Grand Rapids, Anoka, and Elk River are just three examples why it’s different. For example, despite winning every conference meet they played in this season, the ‘Cats were 1-2 against Grand Rapids heading into the first round of the section 7AA golf meet last Wednesday. They were 0-1 versus Elk River. Totally different.

Ironically enough, it came down to those three teams at the end of round one. Unfortunately for Chisago, their luck hadn’t changed. Thanks to a balanced attack across the board, Grand Rapids was once again the team to beat. The Thunderhawks put themselves in position for another trip to state by finishing with a team score of 300.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats tried to keep pace. Senior Jordan Hawkinson finished his first round with a 72, tying him for first overall. Trent Froberg added a 77, and Josh Angrimson carded a 78. However, the Wildcats fourth score came from the 80’s, dropping them to third overall with a score of 309. Elk River ran second with a 306.

The good news was that, thanks to their third place finish, the Wildcats advanced to the second round. However a nine stroke deficit was an awful lot to overcome. Maybe too much.

“I thought we would be a little better to be honest,” said Bill Bigler, Chisago Lakes head boys golf coach. “We had three scores in the 70’s but we had to add a score in the 80’s and we didn’t want to do that. Grand Rapids finished with a 72 and a 73. We could match the 72 but we didn’t have anything to counter act that 73 and so on. It put us in a pretty big hole.”

While the Wildcats were beginning to look ahead to round two, trying to figure out how they were going to dig themselves out, the North Branch Vikings were looking back on the first round, trying to figure out what went wrong.

The Vikings were led by Tom Koep who carded a 78, but after that, their next three scores dropped off. Bryan Peters followed with an 81 and Tyler Leland shot an 84, helping the Vikings to a team score of 330. Overall, North Branch finished 10 out of 14 teams.

“I was hoping we would end up in the middle of the pack,” said Tom Moriarty, North Branch head boys golf coach. “I was very happy with Tom Koep. He birdied his last hole in his final round. What a way to end your high school career. Bryan Peters also played well. He missed the cut by one stroke. You always wonder about those missed putts. But, all in all, they did the best they could and I was happy with that.”

Boys Section 7AA Tournament

Round One- Team Results

1. Grand Rapids 300

2. Elk River 306

3. Chisago Lakes 309

4. Anoka 314

5. Forest Lake 317

10. North Branch 330

*Top three teams advance

to second round

Chisago Lakes Results:

Jordan Hawkinson 72*

Trent Froberg 77*

Josh Angrimson 78*

Luke Angrimson 82

Mike Tschida 84

Nick Allardyce 98

North Branch Results:

Tom Koep 78*

Bryan Peters 81

Tyler Leland 84

Brad Peters 87

Tony Beaver 92

Jake Lane 93

*Scores of 80 or lower

advanced to the second round

of the individual tournament

Round Two

Last Monday, the Wildcats celebrated their Memorial Day by playing golf. Great golf, but even that wasn’t enough to prevent Grand Rapids from heading back to state.

In short, the nine stroke deficit was too much. Yes the ‘Cats shot better as a team. As a matter of fact, five of the six Chisago golfers carded a score of 78 or lower. The group was led by Luke Angrimson who added a 73 to his round one total of 82. Mike Tschida also brought his A-game, parring the back nine, finishing with a 75. It just wasn’t enough.

“We started off pretty good. It just wasn’t enough, nine strokes is a lot to make up against a team like that,” replied Bigler. “Whenever we play them, it’s always close. It just seems like they always get us in the end.”

It went down to the end. Trailing by 13 strokes heading into the back nine, the ‘Cats closed the gap in a hurry, only to fall four strokes short of Grand Rapids and one stroke shy of Elk River who finished second. The Thunderhawks advanced to state with the win.

“We had an excellent back nine. Mike Tschida was the player who stood out there. He had a good first day but he really exploded on the back nine in the second round. He kind of sparked us a little bit,” commented Bigler. “I would have to say that Grand Rapids is the better team though. They have such a good team, all six of their guys can really play well. We were close but I think the better team won. We still only finished four strokes behind which is very respectable.”

Boys Section 7AA Tournament

Round Two-

Final Team Results

1. Grand Rapids 607

2. Elk River 610

3. Chisago Lakes 611

Chisago Lakes Results:

Luke Angrimson 73

Mike Tschida 75

Josh Angrimson 76

Jordan Hawkinson 78

Trent Froberg 78

Nick Allardyce 84

Hawkinson advances to state

After carding a 72 in round one of the section 7AA boys gold meet, Jordan Hawkinson followed that up with a 78 in round two, putting him fifth overall, punching his ticket to the state tournament next week. The top five individuals advance to the state meet.

“Jordan had a great round the first day,” replied Bigler. “He worked through a bunch of bogeys and a bunch of birdies. He had a solid day because he was really into it mentally. He deserves to go.”

While Hawkinson’s season will continue, several Wildcats’ seasons fell just short, barely missing the cut. Players had to shoot a 153 to make the cut for state. Josh Angrimson finished with a 154 while Trent Froberg and Luke Angrimson both finished with 155’s.

The state golf meet will be held next week at Bunker Hills Golf Course. The two-day meet will begin next Tuesday and run through Wednesday.

Meanwhile, after shooting a 78 in round one, Tom Koep finished his high school career with another 78 in round two, giving him 156, three strokes off the pace.

Boys Section 7AA Golf

Final Individual Results

1. Theo Frentzos (ER) 144

2. Derek Holmes (AN) 145

3. Jeff Thune (HI) 147

4. Jordan Hawkinson 150

5. Jordan Ensurd (AN) 153

*Top five individuals advance to state tournament. Scores do not include Grand Rapids golfers who made it to state in team

competition.

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