Somerset golfers advance, St. Croix Central gets one to sectionals

• Stacie Bracht

Freshman Stacie Bracht, shown driving on the 13th hole in the regional tournament, has a bright future for the Somerset golf team.
• Kelsey McKenna

Central senior Kelsey McKenna hadn’t played golf in six days due to illness, but came back to play for the Panthers in the regional tournament.

Talk about it

The focus for the entire day for the Somerset girls golf team at the WIAA regional tournament last Wednesday was to play their way into the sectional tournament.

The Spartans suffered through a few rocky holes in the middle of the round, but finished with a flourish to qualify for this Tuesday’s WIAA Division 2 sectional tournament at Pheasant Hills Golf Club in Hammond.

St. Croix Central wasn’t as fortunate at the regional meet. The Panthers were able to get junior Arinn DiSalvo through to the sectional meet, but the team did not qualify.

Somerset qualified for sectionals by placing third in the regional meet with a team score of 427. The top four teams advance from the regional to the sectional level. Osceola was the regional champion by shooting a 364. Baldwin-Woodville was second at 417 and Ellsworth was fourth at 434.

Somerset was like many teams in the tournament that struggled through the difficult middle holes at the Amery Golf Club, the site for Tuesday’s regional. The Spartans took an eight, two nines and a 10 on hole number nine and followed that with a pair of eights on hole number 10.

“They wanted to qualify for the sectional and they picked up the pace on the back (nine),” said Somerset coach Bill Powers.

That effort was led by senior Sammi Wolff. Wolff shot a 50 on the front, then finished out with a 46. Her 96 was the fourth best score on the difficult Amery course. Only two players, defending WIAA state champion Casey Danielson of Osceola (70) and Avery Steen of Luck (74), shot below a 91.

Wolff was followed by senior Carley Seibel, whose 103 was the Spartans’ second score. Powers said Seibel struggled with her putting, but kept her composure, knowing the importance of her score in the team’s goals.

Freshman Stacie Bracht was the Spartans’ third scorer with a 109. Bracht’s round was hurt on the longer holes, taking a nine and two 10s.

“Otherwise, she played one of her better rounds of the year. She is going to be a very good player next year,” Powers said.

Sophomore Rachael Briggs shot a 119 and senior Hayley McMahon shot a 120 for the Spartans’ fourth and fifth scores.

St. Croix Central

The Panthers had hoped to be one of the four teams that advanced to the sectional level. But outside of DiSalvo, none of the Panthers put together above average rounds for themselves.

DiSalvo was grouped in the final pairing of the day, with Danielson and Seibel. Panther coach Dave Larson said DiSalvo has learned to handle the pressure of playing with the top players in the area.

DiSalvo didn’t take a score worse than seven on any hole, which allowed her to finish with a 96 for the day. Her score tied for fourth place in the regional meet.

DiSalvo will be a longshot to qualify for state, but she will have one big advantage. With the sectional meet at Pheasant Hills, she will be as familiar with the course as anyone playing in the tournament.

The rest of the Panther scores were bunched together. Senior Kelsey McKenna, who hadn’t played in six days due to illness, shot a 113. Becca Isnardi finished at 115, Kelly Wengelski at 118 and Katlyn Delander at 129.

Tags: sports, spartans, panthers, golf, prep