Consistency will be key for the Mitchell High School girls' golf team at the Class AA state tournament, which starts at 9 a.m. today at Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls. The tournament runs through Tuesday.
Mitchell coach Mark Horan's team has no seniors, and he said this year's state tournament will be valuable experience for the girls.
"Realistically, one of our goals will be to shoot our best score of the year," Horan said. "Our scores have been coming down throughout the year. We just need to be a little more consistent. If you're capable of shooting a 45 in the front, then you should be capable of shooting something close to that your second nine."
Horan said the team's inconsistency is a result of its youth. He said each of the girls has different goals going into the tournament today.
Mitchell's Kristin Sabers and Macy Miller are the two golfers with state tournament play experience, but Horan said the team has been working hard to get prepared for today.
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"We've been working on the kind of shots we need to perform well at Elmwood," he said. "We've been doing some bunker shots and some low punch-out shots for when we get in the trees, because there are a lot of trees there."
Sabers leads the Kernels this season with an average score of 85 and is set to tee off in the third pairing today. Miller will be in the sixth pairing and Kylie Barington will be in the 11th pairing. In the second group of pairings, Alyssa Sorenson is in the ninth paring and Madison VanWalleghan will be in the 12th pairing.
Last year, Sabers placed eighth at the state tournament after carding a 167 after both rounds and Miller came in 42nd with a 188. As a team, Mitchell took eighth place.
"The girls don't need to shoot amazing scores," Horan said. "They just need to shoot solid scores two days in a row."
