Girls Golf State Meet Storylines: Hayfield's Bronson to make history

Jun. 8—When Hayfield senior Carly Bronson tees off at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker at 1:12 p.m. on Tuesday she'll join a very select list of Minnesota high school golfers who share a record that won't be topped.

>Bronson will play in her sixth Class 1A state tournament this week.

>That's the most a high school golfer in Minnesota can play in — athletes can begin varsity play as seventh-graders, which Bronson did very well, in 2021.

>She placed 68th and 71st in her first two state meets, her seventh- and eighth-grade years, 2021 and 2022.

>Bronson took a jump in her game as a freshman, placing seventh in the section and 37th at state.

>Her big jump came in her sophomore season, 2024, when Bronson placed third in Section 1-1A, shooting 177 over 36 holes and finishing just six shots back of medalist Myleigh Scheevel from Fillmore Central. Bronson then earned her first All-State honors by placing seventh in the Class 1A state meet (81-75 — 156).

>Last year, Bronson won her first section title and placed 12th at state.

>She repeated as Section 1 medalist this spring, shooting 78-77—155 to win by 12 shots.

>The Minnesota State High School League doesn't track six-time qualifiers, and a scouring of the Internet turns up very few who have accomplished the feat (among them are former Fosston High School and University of Minnesota women's basketball standout Kelly Roysland).

>Owatonna senior Carmen Jirele — the 2024 Class 3A state medalist and a finalist for the 2026 Minnesota Miss Golf award — is at state for the fifth time, this week.

>The Lake City girls golf team is in the Class 2A state meet for a sixth consecutive season. When the Tigers' run of section titles started in 2021, they were bolstered by a freshman who started her career as a seventh-grader, and never left the lineup.

>Jordana Windhorst Knudsen now plays at the University of Minnesota, the first former Tigers girls golfer to do so.

>And while Ellie Kohrs is a long way from choosing a college to golf at, the current Lake City seventh-grader isn't too young to start following in Windhorst Knudsen's shoes.

>Kohrs will play in her first state meet this week, when the Tigers return to the Ridges at Sand Creek for their sixth straight Class 2A meet. She enters the meet as one of the state's top young players, with an 85.0 average per 18 holes. That average is behind only Windhorst Knudsen for a Lake City seventh-grader in the program's storied history.

>"She's going to be a player," Lake City coach Steve Randgaard said. "She started the year as our sixth golfer (in the six-player varsity lineup), worked her way up to No. 1, and now she's been playing mostly at No. 2. But she loves the game. She lives at the golf course."

>The Section 1-2A meet wasn't Kohrs' first big-meet experience as a high school athlete, though. She also was a key runner for Lake City's cross country team last fall, and competed in the section meet.

>"She's just a really good athlete, and strong," Randgaard said.

>The Tigers are led this spring by senior Alayna Atkinson, juniors Taylor Davidson, Jordyn Dicke and Julia Huettl, and sophomore Marlena Brunkow.

>Flora Bolster is one of the best high school golfers in southeastern Minnesota this spring.

>She's the lone senior in Mayo's varsity lineup and her scoring average of 80.07 entering the Class 3A state meet is the best among local girls players this season. She'll tee off at 12:27 p.m. Tuesday at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids, in the opening round of the Class 3A state tournament.

>Her second trip to state will mark the final event of her high school career.

>She placed 36th last year, following a first-round 89 with a sizzling 4-over-par 76 in the final round, and jumping up significantly from 61st place after Day 1.

>Bolster will be Mayo's lone representative at state this week, but she and her teammates were honored last week for their work off the course.

>The Spartans were named the Section 1 Academic Team Champion, with an exemplary cumulative team GPA of 4.0. Bolster was also named to the Academic All-State Team, with her spotless 4.0 GPA.

>She'll now aim for a different kind of All-State honors this week.