Hi-Liner Golf battles through cold & wind

Golf

May 5

The Valley City Hi-Liner golf team continued its strong spring stretch on Tuesday, battling through difficult conditions at the Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter Invitational at Napoleon Country Club. Despite cold temperatures and heavy winds throughout the day, the Hi-Liners still found themselves right in the middle of another title chase, finishing tied for first overall with a team score of 353 before narrowly falling to host Napoleon/G-S on the fifth-score tiebreaker.

After winning back-to-back tournaments entering the meet, Valley City once again showed the consistency and depth that has fueled their mid-season success. The Hi-Liners placed four golfers inside the top 21 individually and remained in contention all afternoon in one of the tighter team races of the season. Edgeley-Kulm finished just two strokes behind both teams with a 355, making it a three-team battle down to the final scorecards.

Eighth grader Beck Dietrich continued his breakout season with another outstanding performance, carding an 83 to finish runner-up individually. Dietrich stayed steady throughout the round, posting a 41 on the front nine before finishing with a 42 coming in. Fellow eighth grader Kallen Hansen also delivered a strong recovery round after a difficult opening stretch, bouncing back to shoot an 88 and earn a top-10 finish in ninth place overall.

Valley City’s depth again played a major role in the near tournament win. Gray Kasowski and Austin Anderson each shot 91s, tying for 17th overall, while senior Noah Tulp added a 94. Brody Kalbrener rounded out the Hi-Liner scores with a 96. With multiple underclassmen continuing to contribute near the top of the lineup, Valley City’s future — and present — continues to look extremely promising.

Head coach Coach Murray noted the difficult playing conditions but was pleased with the way the Hi-Liners competed throughout the day.

“Cool and very windy day at Napoleon Country Club today, but we had a nice showing,” Murray said. “Tied for first, but finished second due to the tie-breaker. Beck had a great round, and Kallen recovered from a tough start to place in the top 10 individually.”

The Hi-Liners will look to keep their hot streak rolling Thursday, May 7, at the Edgeley/Kulm Invitational at Kulm Country Club beginning at 10 a.m.