May 29, 2008 at 9:05 a.m.
State tourney just escapes Duren in a playoff, CL finishes eighth as a team
State tourney just escapes Duren in a playoff, CL finishes eighth as a team
With the brackets stacked with Forest Lake, Princeton, Duluth East, Cambridge-Isanti and Elk River, Chisago Lakes aimed for one of the top three spots to advance to the second day of play.
The whole team couldn't complete the feat during the Thursday, May 22, as they were knocked out on the first day after finishing in eighth place. Their 319 was 28 strokes off of Forest Lake's number one score of 291.
Princeton grabbed second with a 304, and Duluth Denfeld finished third with a 306.
The team was led by Duren, a senior, and freshman Kyle Hagglund. Duren shot a 35 on the front nine anda 38 on the back nine for a 73. Hagglund went 42-37-79.
Both golfers scored well enough to advance to the second round of individual play on Monday, May 26 for a shot at a state tournament berth.
Chisago Lakes team scores
Aron Duren 35-38-73
Nick Bratrud 41-44-85
Jesse Helgestad 40-42-82
Nick Lang 44-41-85
Kyle Hagglund 42-37-79
Mike Corradi 39-48-87
On the second day of golfing, Duren shot a front nine 37, which left him on the outside looking in in sixth place.
Hagglund, on the other hand, struggled through the last three holes and found himself in a tough spot after shooting a 47 on the front nine.
Duren found a groove on the tough back nine of the links, though, and worked his way into a tie with Cambridge-Isanti's Ty Liljander for the fifth and final berth to the state tourney.
The two entered a sudden death playoff, with the first hole winner going to state, and the loser pondering where they could've made up a stroke in their 36 holes.
Duren got a tough break when his drive took an akward bounce and landed underneath a pine tree to start the hole off.
He couldn't recover against the solid Bluejacket golfer, and he lost by one stroke to Liljander and was sent packing.
The team graduates a bulk of their lineup, losing Duren, Bratrud, Helgestad, Lang and Corradi to graduation. But, they do return the experience and skill of a now battle-tested Hagglund, and they can only hope to build off the foundation that the young man built.
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