By: Nathan Bloechl — nathanb@977thebolt.com
LeMars, Iowa — While a repeat trip to team state golf would have always been hard, Jess Harklau and the Humboldt Wildcat girls’ golf team didn’t get the whole chocolate bar — but they did get a couple Hershey’s Kisses.
In a crowded and talented 3A regional field at LeMars Monday, both Kenzie McCartan and Frances Carlson were individual qualifiers to the state golf meet in Ames next week.
The two sophomores finished 4th (McCartan) and 7th (Carlson) overall at Willow Creek Golf Course in LeMars, Monday afternoon.
Marisa Weeks of Spirit Lake was the meet medalist, she shot a blistering 74.
Carlson shot a second team-high 48 in the first nine and then came back again in the back nine and shot a 46, again good for second on the club.
“I owe a lot to the prayers from my family and friends” said Carlson of her performance Monday, “because my driver wasn’t working.”
Carlson was a member of last year’s team that captured 4A gold at the state meet and said that experience overall has helped her this year fill into the large shoes left behind by that of Brooke Anderson, Olivia Birdsell and Avery Terwilliger.
“My teammates last year were all good leaders” Carslon explained. “All experiences [last year] were opportunities to become more familiar with situations [this year] and to build upon [them].”
This year Carlson and McCartan — both sophomores — will be playing side by side with each other, something Carlson believes is a unique opportunity to grow again.
“Playing golf with Kenzie is so much fun, but it’ll be especially awesome to do it at the state meet” remarked Carlson.
McCartan had the back-nine of her lifetime yesterday, when she shot a ridiculous 40 (+4) which was the second best 9-hole score on the day behind meet medalist Marisa Weeks who shot 37, 37, to go 74 (+3) on the day.
McCartan started the day with a 51 on the front nine after running into some tough luck. She was unable to comment directly at this time.
Carlson said she doesn’t want to get herself worked up too much in lieu of next week’s state meet, but also explained that some nervous butterflies are to be expected.
“The best golfers in the state will be there competing next week for the state title, everyone will be playing their best golf and having fun. I just want to be the best version of myself. “
The Wildcats finished third in the team race behind Carroll who shot a team 374, and MOC-Floyd Valley with a 375. Humboldt finished at 385, as a team.
McCartan and Carlson will have about a week off before heading to Ames next week for the 3A state golf meet at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames.
The meet is expected to begin May 29th and wrap up on the 30th.