Hi-Liners Golf Team Miss State by One Stroke, Send Four Individually

Golf

May 26

One stroke. One single stroke.

That was the razor-thin margin separating the young Valley City Hi-Liners boys golf team from a trip to the Class B State Tournament as a full team on Tuesday at the Region 3 & 4 Super Regional at Jamestown Country Club.

Valley City finished fifth overall with a team score of 340, just one shot behind fourth-place Bishop Ryan (339) for the final qualifying team spot.

For a roster loaded with youth, the disappointment of narrowly missing out will sting for a while. But the bigger picture is impossible to ignore — this program is young, talented, and clearly trending upward.

The Hi-Liners were led by eighth grader Beck Dietrich, who fired an impressive 84 to tie for 18th overall. Freshman Austin Anderson and eighth grader Kallen Hansen each carded rounds of 85 to tie for 23rd, while eighth grader Gray Kasowski rounded out the state-qualifying group with an 86, tying for 26th.

Those four golfers all qualified individually for the Class B State Tournament and will represent Valley City on June 2-3 in Carrington.

That fact alone says plenty about the future of Hi-Liner golf.

Valley City’s top four scorers Tuesday consisted of three eighth graders and one freshman. Most programs hope for one young golfer to emerge at the varsity level. The Hi-Liners already have four.

And perhaps that’s what makes the one-stroke miss both painful and promising.

This wasn’t a veteran group making one last run. This was a young team learning how razor-thin postseason golf can be. The experience gained Tuesday may end up becoming the foundation for something bigger over the next several seasons.

Also competing for Valley City were seventh grader Riley Roelfsema, who shot a 90, and eighth grader Brody Kalbrener, who finished with a 95.

The team season may have fallen one stroke short, but the Hi-Liners’ future looks anything but short on potential.