A dozen girls golfers to watch in Section 1 meets this week

Jason Feldman, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·6 min read

May 28—Lake City has its sights on winning a third consecutive Class AA girls golf state championship.

The Tigers can't do that without first winning the Section 1AA championship, and they'll face some stiff competition in that meet this week at Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester.

Four of the Tigers mainstays are ranked in the top 40 in the most recent MNGolf.org Minnesota girls high school golf individual rankings. Those four are among our 12 to watch in this week's Section 1 meets:

—Brooke Bee (Lake City): The senior has been outstanding for the Tigers' this spring and is ranked No. 37 in the state in MNGolf.org's latest high school girls golf rankings. Bee was the runner-up at last week's HVL Championships, shooting 84 and finishing behind only Byron standout Calie Dockter. Bee's 85.3 scoring average in three HVL meets this spring was the sixth-best in the league. Bee placed eighth in Section 1AA in 2022 (all six Tigers' golfers finished in the top 11) then tied for 19th at the Class AA state meet.

—Emma Berge (Lake City): Berge will carry on the tradition of Tigers' golfers playing college golf at a high level; she has signed a NLI to play at Minnesota State University, Mankato, beginning next school year. The No. 31-ranked girls golfer in the state, Berge placed third at last week's HVL Championships (85). She tied for 11th at the 2022 Class AA state meet after finishing as the Section 1AA runner-up.

—Flora Bolster (Mayo): Just a freshman, Bolster plays more like a veteran than a youngster. She placed fifth at the Big Nine meet last week in Mankato, on the heels of a third-place finish in the All-City Invitational on May 19 at Eastwood Golf Course. Over her past six meets, she has twice finished as the medalist, and she has a scoring average of 85.8, including three rounds of 82. It's an impressive jump for Bolster, who didn't make the cut for the second day of the Section 1AAA meet last year.

—Calie Dockter (Byron): The Bears' talented junior has been terrific this spring and only continues to improve. Doctor, ranked No. 73 in the state, was the medalist at last week's Hiawatha Valley League championships with a 78, six shots better than anyone else in the field. Perhaps her best showing this spring came on May 11 in the 15-team Byron Invitational at Somerby, where Dockter fired a 5-over-par 77 to finish as the runner-up to Lake City star Jordana Windhorst-Knudsen. Doctor made two birdies and 10 pars in that round. Over her past five rounds, she is averaging a score of 81.6.

—Ava Fevold (John Marshall): A senior now, Fevold is the Rockets' leader after learning from some talented leaders in recent years, such as Hannah Selig (who played in the NCAA Division III national tournament this spring for Minnesota-Morris) and Maren Aikens, who recently wrapped up her second season at Augsburg. Fevold tied for fifth at the Rochester All-City Invitational two weeks ago (91) and was seventh at a Big Nine meet last week in Mankato (83). She was also the Rockets' top scorer at the Section 1AAA meet last year, placing 11th with a two-round total of 185.

—Courtney Hershberger (Fillmore Central): The senior led her Falcons team to a convincing 36-shot victory at last week's Three Rivers Conference meet at Eastwood Golf Course in Rochester. The No. 66-ranked girls high school golfer in Minnesota fired an 83 that day to earn medalist honors. She has been the medalist in five consecutive meets since finishing as the runner-up at the eight-team Wabasha-Kellogg Invitational on May 4.

—Marin Keller (Winona): The Winhawks' standout junior is playing well as the regular season turns into the postseason. She tied for 16th with Mayo's Avery Meyer (90) at the Big Nine Conference meet in Mankato last week. Keller, ranked No. 84 in the state by MNGolf.org, also won a dual meet against Century on May 23 at Northern Hills, shooting an 84. Keller has her sights set on qualifying for state after narrowly missing a year ago. She finished eighth at the Section 1AAA meet in 2022, shooting 91-88 — 179, leaving her two places and four strokes out of a state-meet berth.

—Ellie Leise (Lourdes): The No. 60-ranked girls golfer in the state, Leise has had a strong spring so far. She was the medalist at the Rochester All-City Invitational (76) and tied for 11th at last week's Hiawatha Valley League championships, with a 91 at Northern Hills in Rochester. The Eagles' junior is looking to get back to the Class AA state meet for a second consecutive year; she placed seventh in Section 1AA and tied for 30th at state last year.

—Ella Matzke (Lake City): The Tigers' best golfer at the Class AA state meet last spring, Matzke helped her team win its second straight state title by finishing as the individual runner-up in the rain-shortened 27-hole meet (79-38 — 117). Matzke is ranked No. 26 in the state right now by MNGolf.org. Matzke, a junior, tied for seventh at the HVL Championships last week (88).

—Avery Meyer (Mayo): Meyer has been a bit up-and-down this season, but has been strong down the stretch. She has shot 81 in two of her past three competitive rounds and is averaging 86.7 over her past five rounds. She tied for 16th at a Big Nine meet in Mankato last week after finishing as the runner-up in the Rochester All-City Invitational. Meyer finished 20th at the Section 1AAA meet last spring, and looks to improve on that finish this week.

—Ailani Thiravong (Austin): The Packers talented youngster was terrific in 2022 as a seventh-grader (she placed 10th in the Section 1AAA meet). She is back in form this spring; she helped Austin place fifth in a Big Nine Conference meet at Mankato last week, shooting 83 to tie for seventh place. That came on the heels of winning medalist honors at the Mankato East Invitational on May 20, when she shot an 82 to win by three strokes. Thiravong is ranked No. 89 in the MNGolf.org girls high school rankings.

—Jordana Windhorst-Knudsen (Lake City): The Tigers junior and reigning Post Bulletin All-Area Girls Golfer of the Year has been superb again this spring. She is ranked No. 7 in the state among girls golfers from all three classes and posted a 79.0 stroke average over three HVL regular-season meets. The defending Section 1AA medalist (78-77 — 155) helped her team win its second consecutive Class AA state championship last spring by placing 11th in the rain-shortened meet.