The 86th Annual SDHSAA Boys State Golf Championship Tournaments will begin on Monday for the state’s Class ‘A’ and ‘AA’ competitors. This year’s competitions will be played as two-day, thirty-six hole events, with Class ‘A’ at Pine Hills Golf Club in Milbank and Class ‘AA’ at Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City.
This year’s Class ‘A’ field features 107 golfers from 32 different teams, highlighted by two-time defending team champion Dell Rapids. Including their 2011 title, the Quarriers have captured three of the last four Boys’ Class ‘A’ crowns, and will look to senior Ty Hoglund (T-6 in 2014) and sophomore Mason Schmidt (T-6 in 2014) to lead the squad after the graduation of last year’s medalist, Adam Karst. The Parkston Trojans also figure to be very much in the team title mix, having finished in the top three places in each of the past three years. The Trojans come to the State Championships with each of their five golfers posting a Top-20 qualifying score throughout the state, led by Garret Hohn (T-14 in 2014) and Jacob Lee (T-9 in 2014).
On the Class ‘AA’ side, a new format of play begins this year, as players will play in a wave-style format as opposed to being seeded individually, allowing six team members to tee off in consecutive pairings and pitting the top four qualifying teams against one another on Day One: top-seeded Sioux Falls O’Gorman, second seed Sioux Falls Lincoln, third seed Aberdeen Central, and fourth seed Sioux Falls Washington.
While Connor Preston (Aberdeen Central), and Will Grevlos (SF Washington) both check in with statewide-low averages of 73 entering this year’s championships, it is Sioux Falls O’Gorman who figures to be the favorite with four of the six best individual scoring averages, and all six of their team’s golfers ranking in the pre-tournament Top-15. Brandon Valley is the defending team champion.
Expanded this year for each the ‘AA’ and ‘A’ Championship Events will be an online live-scoring feature accessible to the public via the South Dakota Public Broadcasting page. Hole-by-hole, team, and individual scores will be updated throughout competition during Monday and Tuesday’s play. For more information on the new live-scoring feature, as well as full tournament information, including pairings and tee-times for both tournaments. For more information, visit sdpb.org/golf
This press release is courtesy of the South Dakota High School Activities Association.
