The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Chinook Sugarbeeters again brought home hardware from the State Golf Tournament held this past weekend at the Double Arrow course in Seeley.

Since 2012 the Sugarbeeters have collected a team trophy and had at least one All-State golfer. In the previous five seasons it was the boys team collecting all the accolades, in 2017 it was the girls turn to shine.

Junior Carrie Hofer led a determined girls team on a day two surge to finish in third place at the State C and bring home the schools first ever team trophy.

Hofer, along with senior Charlie Anderson, senior Kelsey Mathon and sophomore Ashley MacLeod all contributed scores to the team total in a spirited effort.

Hofer earned All-State honors finishing sixth in the girls individual race after firing a two day score of 105-107 212.

Each team consists of four players with the three lowest scores counting towards the team total. On day one Hofer's, MacLeod's and Anderson's rounds counted and on day two it was Hofer's, MacLeod's and Mathon's.

MacLeod finished the State C in 24th with a 124-114 228, Mathon was 27th with a 127-119 246 and Anderson finished 37th with a 126-134 260.

"I'm so proud of what us girls accomplished, going in to day one we just really wanted to be the first Chinook girls team to place at state," said Hofer. "After the first day we were 6 strokes behind, so our goal the second day was just to focus and take a couple strokes off, which we did it was a very proud moment!"

Head Coach Mike Seymour was impressed with the girls resolve, "For the girls to come back and have a second day they did with the limited amount of State experience was really impressive."

After day one the girls and Seymour had a conversation and established a game plan for day two, "That night the girls and I had a conversation about playing with confidence and grit. Grit being the number one predictor and factor of success. It's not talent, title, wealth, or good looks. It's grit, the ability to work hard for a long period of time towards a goal; to persevere, overcome, and keep moving forward in the face of adversity, failure, rejection, and obstacles. Good thing we had this conversation because when we woke up the next morning there were icicles coming off of the roof of the cabins," said Seymour.

Seymour pointed out that only Hofer and MacLeod had State Tournament experience and that it was also only their second year playing. Mathon was playing her second year of golf and Anderson was a part of the sport for the first time.

Hofer's individual performance was impressive, "We were able to watch Carrie play the last six or seven holes and the composure she showed to grind away in that weather and with TV camera's and everyone watching, the grit she showed hitting quality shot after quality shot was impressive, it was really cool to watch," added Seymour.

"I was very surprised on my sixth place finish. I just went out and did the best I could do. I was in eighth place the first day and my strategy the second day was to hopefully lower my putting game," stated Hofer.

Her plans for her senior year have already been implemented, "Next year I'm hoping to do even better! I'm gonna just golf a lot In the summer and work on my short game. I'm planning on going to Fairmount to check out the course for next year!"

The Chinook boys also had a team at the State C and while they may not have brought home hardware this spring, they competed each day to the best of their ability.

Seniors Kade Friede and Tate Niederegger along with junior Jacob Huckabee made up the roster. Huckabee was a alternate on the third place team in 2016 and will look to have a solid senior year next spring.