Northfield girls golf remains undefeated in conference

The Northfield High School girls golf team (19-0) remained undefeated in Big 9 Conference play as the Raiders gained two more league wins on Thursday, May 9 at the Eastwood Golf Course in Rochester.

The Raiders scored a season-best 334 to win the Big 9 triangular as Owatonna placed second with a 342 and Rochester Mayo was third at 356.

NHS senior Emerson Garlie, who is currently ranked 17th in the state, was the meet’s medalist with a score of 75. Karina Johnson placed fourth on the leaderboard with an 81 and Annika Johnson placed fifth at 86. The Raiders’ scoresheet was completed by Alivia Kortuem in 10th place with a 92, Kennedy Bauernfeind in 13th place with a 99 and Annika Briske in 16th place at 107. Of note, the scores for Kortuem and Bauernfeind were both personal bests.

The week for Raiders, who are ranked #11 in the state this season, opened on Wednesday, May 8 with a third place finish at the invitational tournament hosted by Northfield at the Willinger’s Golf Club.

Northfield posted a team score of 353 to place third, while #4 ranked Wayzata won the team title with a score of 328 and #7 ranked East Ridge placed third at 339. The tournament’s field included 15 teams and other state ranked teams playing in the tournament included #8 Eastview, #25 Eden Prairie and 30 Lakeville South.

Individually, Garlie placed fifth overall with a score of 80 on the challenging track at Willnger’s. Jovie Ordal of Lakeville South (ranked seventh in the state) was the event’s medalist with a score of 76. Karina John son placed seventh for the Raiders with an 82, while Annika Johnson was 22nd with a 92. Kortuem placed 37th with a 99, while Annalisa Larson was 50th (104) and Danica Sorem placed 59th (107).

Garlie won the tournament’s closest to the pin competition on hole number seven and Annika Johnson earned top honors in the closest to the pin contest on hole 14 at the Willinger’s tournament.

Northfield will continue its 2024 schedule by hosting a Big 9 Quad meet at the Northfield Golf Club on Thursday, May 16 against Austin, Mankato East and Mankato West. NHS will return to the Northfield Golf Club on Monday, May 20 to host the 2024 Big 9 Conference championship tournament. Play that day is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.