Patience and depth to be tested for Mitchell girls golf at Class AA state tournament – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL — A much different feeling has set in during the lead-up to the state tournament for the Mitchell High School girls golf program.

At this time last year, the Kernels went in as one of the favorites to win the Class AA team championship, only to come up one spot short. Now, they view themselves as the underdogs to a strong Aberdeen Central squad with three of the top-four leading scorers in the class.

However, it’s a spot the Kernels find themselves to be the most comfortable in.

“We have nothing to lose,” Mitchell head coach Brian Eliason said. “The risk of shooting high doesn’t really matter. Our risk comes in how low we can shoot. That’s what we have to focus on. We certainly can put the scores together to win, but can we put in four good scores for two days straight?”

Mitchell will enter the Class AA state girls golf tournament at Prairie Green Golf Course in Sioux Falls at 8 a.m. Monday, June 2, having averaged a team score of 320 in nine events, four strokes better than the Kernels’ mark in 2024. Mitchell has also won three team events on the season while finishing in second place in the other six.

Much of the improvement of the team this season comes from the overall growth of the Kernels’ depth, which has seen 10-stroke improvements from each of their golfers outside of Maddie Childs at the top of the depth chart, who’s averaged a 77 with two wins in nine competitive rounds, mainly coming down to confidence of their abilities.

“That’s why we’re able to compete,” Eliason said. “Their confidence comes from hitting the ball better, putting better, chipping better and scoring better. These girls are really smart golfers and they can avoid trouble and hit both fairways and greens.”

Sophomore Anna Eliason sits second on the Kernels in scoring, averaging a 79.44 while also sharing the Yankton quadrangular medalist honors with Childs. Mia Larson is third at 81.11 while senior Ava Eliason has scored an average of 84.67. Freshman Londyn Hajek (86.67) and senior Raegan Sperl (93.17) round out the main varsity golfers who have competed this season.

Mitchell knows Aberdeen Central will be the team to beat, as the Golden Eagles have clipped the Kernels in six of the eight tournaments they competed alongside each other. However, one of the victories belonging to the Kernels came at the Warrior Invitational at Prairie Green, the site of the state tournament.

Looking to take advantage of the team’s length off the tee and overall on the course, coach Brian Eliason has talked with the girls about being patient and knowing when to pull back and play a strategy shot to find fairways, knowing the importance of course management over the 36 holes of the tournament.

“We don’t have to hit our drivers on every single hole out there,” Eliason said. “Our girls can hit six irons or hybrids off the tee and still have a short iron into a lot of these holes. They just need to avoid the trouble on about four or five holes and play to the middle of greens to avoid big numbers.”

Overall, Mitchell is ready for whatever is thrown its way across both days, knowing the course will play differently from when they won there earlier in the month. Above all else, the Kernels are ready to have fun.

“They’re mentally prepared for it,” Eliason said. “They just need to understand that there’s really no pressure on them. We just need to go out there and play two fun, casual rounds of golf at the state championship.”

Blake Durham is a Sports Reporter for the Mitchell Republic, having joined in October of 2023. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in December of 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. Durham can be found covering a variety of prep and collegiate sports in the area.