WATERTOWN — Those people who believe in the idiom that “lightning never strikes the same place twice” probably don’t know the history of the Clark and Clark-Willow High School girls golf program.
A good reminder was on full display on Thursday, May 22, 2025, during the Region 1B golf tournament at the Prairie Winds Golf Club.
Exactly 21 years to the date that Roger Merriam’s story on two young Clark sisters (freshman Ashley and seventh-grader Kimmy) was published in the Public Opinion in 2004, Clark-Willow Lake sisters Brynn (a sophomore) and Faith (a seventh-grader) finished 1-2 in the girls division to help lead the Cyclones to the region team title. Brynn shot a 4-over par 76 for a five-shot win over Faith.
How do the two sets of sisters compare?
“That’s a tough question because every golfer is different,” Clark-Willow Lake coach John Brown said. “Brynn is probably much stronger and hits the ball further as a sophomore than the Kaufman sisters did, but they were consistently in the fairway. Now the youngest one here (Faith), she’s consistently down the middle just like Kimmy was when she first started. That’d be the only comparison.”
Brown should know, as he guided the Clark golf program for many years and has continued after Clark and Willow Lake formed a co-op prior to the 2009 spring season.
The Kaufmans combined to win six individual state B championships (two by Ashley and four by Kimmy) and led the Clark/CWL squads to a state record seven-consecutive team titles from 2004-2010. Kimmy or Kim, as she is known now, went on to play at NCAA Division I Texas Tech University and joined the LPGA in 2014 (compiling career earnings of $1.5 million).
That’s notable especially when you consider that the two Clark County communities have a combined population of well under 2,000 people.
New siblings arrive to end drought
After Kim Kaufman graduated in 2010, girls golf success on the state level slowed for Clark-Willow Lake. Only three times from 2011 though 2021, did the Cylones qualify for state and only once (fourth in 2012) did they finish in the top 10 until Brynn Roehrich joined the varsity as a seventh-grader in 2022. They’ve placed ninth, eighth and third, respectively, the past three years.
Now with younger sister Faith also around, the Cyclones should challenge for the state title when the state Class B girls tourney is held on Monday and Tuesday, June 2-3 at the Prairie Winds Golf Club.
“I obviouly knew the Kimmy and Ashley were really good but after they left, the program went on a downfall,” Brynn Roehrich said. “We took second in regions my first year and have kept getting better. Now I’m happy to get to play with my sister and see what we can do.”
Brynn Roehrich took her first golf lesson from Coach Brown at age 4 and continues to heed his advice during the spring high school golf seasons. She also works heavily with Eric Stevens, another former Clark golfer who owns the Vitality Golf Academy in Watertown.
Success has been a constant from the start for Brynn on the golf course and she’s carried that into her high school career, where she’s won four-straight Region 1B titles. After tying for eighth at state in 2022, she took second in 2023 before winning the state title last June. She’ll certainly is one of the favorites, if not the main one, in the 2025 state tourney.
“Playing golf is just something that I knew I could do for the rest of my life,” Brynn said when asked about how she got started in the sport. “My coaches told me I had a good swing and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”
Changing the direction of a family
Faith Roehrich has certainly followed a golf path started by her sister. She also began taking lessons from Coach Brown at age 4 and has made her way to the Clark-Willow Lake varsity as a seventh-grader.
The daughters of Jason and Val Roehrich are part of family that has a adopted a new favorite sport.
“My dad useed to be a fisherman and about seven years ago, he sold his fishing boat and started to golf because Faith and I golfed so much,” Brynn Roehrich said. “Now, he golfs pretty much every day with us.”
Other members of the family have also followed suit. Younger sister Faith appears willing to follow Brynn’s lead, rather than overtake her.
“I pretty high goal for me this year at state is to try to finish in the top five,” Faith said. “I definitely think that’s possible.”
The younger Roehrich is content to play second fiddle for awhile to her older sister, but will definitely aim bigger after Brynn graduates. In the the Cyclones’ golf events this spring, Faith has finished second behind Brynn in all but three tourneys.
“If I do finally happen to beat her, she said she’d be happy for me but also disappointed with herself for knowing she didn’t play her best round,” Faith said.
The future is definitely bright
The Roehrich sisters will tell you they’re just enjoying playing the game they love and it doesn’t hurt when the success they’ve achieved fuels the fire.
Brynn said she knows some colleges have contacted Coach Stevens but she’s still a long ways away from having to make her college choices. She’s competed favorably in summer events with some of state’s top Class AA and A golfers and certainly has the makings of somebody whose golf success could reach the national or higher.
It isn’t hard to look ahead and also see a bright future also for Faith.
“Right now, the main difference between them is the age difference, and the size and strength,” Coach Brown said. “Brynn’s a strong girl. She’s got a good club head speed and Faith’s got a ways to go with that. She does have good control of her golf ball though.”
The Roehrichs are members at the Prairie Winds Golf Club, which not only played host to the region tourney but also will be the host site for the upcoming State B girls tourney. The sisters know some good rounds by each of them will certainly help the Cyclones in the team battle.
And there’s still time to continue blazing much the same trail that the Kaufman sisters did more than two decade ago.
“Both sets of sisters were really dedicated,” Brown said. “They played a lot of golf, especially in the summer. They’re at the golf course all the time and it shows.”
Region 1B Girls
- Team Scores — 1. Clark-Willow Lake 277; 2. Faulkton Area 313; 3. Webster Area 353; 4. Frederick Area 366; 5. Britton-Hecla 383; 6. Waverly-South Shore 406; 7. Leola 412; 8. Wilmot 418. Top three teams qualify for state.
- Individual State Qualifiers — 1. Brynn Roehrich, Clark-Willow Lake, 76 (+4); 2. Faith Roehrich, Clark-Willow Lake, 81; 3. Olivia Knox, Doland, 84; 4. Mollie Simon, Ipswich, 91; 5. Brooklyn Kast, Faulkton Area, 94; 6. Bailee Ninke, Webster Area, 99; 7. (Tie) Anika Mueller, Faulkton Area, and Sage Gaikowski, Waubay-Summit, 102; 9. Ruby Dallman, Frederick Area, 104; 10. Ellis Johnson, Warner, 111; 11. Mia Coester, Webster Area, 115; 12. (Tie) Clara Heuer, Waverly-South Shore, and Sage Ford, Britton-Hecla, 118; 14. Raegan Geditz, Faulkton Area, 119.
Region 1B Boys
- Team Scores — 1. (Tie) Clark-Willow Lake and Edmunds Central 248 (+32).; 3. Webster Area 250; 4. Doland 265; 5. Florence-Henry 283; 6. Faulkton Area 295; 7. Ipswich 307; 8. Britton-Hecla 308; 9. Warner 313; 10. Great Plains Lutheran 321; 11. Wilmot 366; 12. Langford Area 368; 13. Waubay-Summit 373; 14. Waverly-South Shore 377; 15. Leola 414. Top three teams qualify for state.
- Individual State Qualifiers — 1. Blaize Amdahl, Webster Area, 76 (+4); 2. (Tie) Kaden Wookey, Clark-Willow Lake, and Harrison Beyers, Edmunds Central, 78′ 4. (Tie) Seth Lesnar, Webster Area, and Seth Hettick, Edmunds Central, 81; 6. Kaiden Weinreis, Doland, 82; 7. Kooper Wookey, Clark-Willow Lake, 84; 8. (Tie) Briggs LaBrie, Doland, and Drake Mueller, Faulkton Area, 85; 10. (Tie) Cade Gaikowski, Clark-Willow Lake, and Ty Bergh, Florence-Henry, 86; 12. Barrett Pommer, Great Plains Lutheran, 88; 13. (Tie) Trent Beyers, Edmunds Central, and Tucker Kadlec, Ipswich, 89; 15. (Tie) Wyatt Schlagel, Clark-Willow Lake, and Hayden Liebl, Warner, 91; 17. Carson Vavruska, Florence-Henry, 92; 18. Thomas Kuecker, Webster Area, 93; 19. Jace Rein, Britton-Hecla, 94; 20. (Tie) Nate Bass, Ipswich; Henry Bossley, Faulkton Area and Michael Dorsette, Webster Area, 96; 3. Matthew Hofer, Doland, 98.
- Note: The State B boys tourney June 2-3 in Watertown. The boys, however, are slated to play at Cattail Crossing Golf Course.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
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