ARLINGTON- Chae Yeon Kim, freshman at Mansfield St. Peter was disappointed after her 82 in the sections despite winning medalist honors.
“Last week at sectionals she had a tough round and she shot in the 80s – she normally shoots below that,” St. Peter’s coach Nathan Sims said. “But today she came – she just played textbook golf.”
Armed with arguably the purest swing at Sycamore Springs, Kim shot a 4-over 76 for medalist runner-up honors – bested by Tiffin Calvert’s Alyssa Rishty (73) – and made history in the process, becoming the first qualified golfer from the State of St. Pierre.
“In the last nine matches, she made a few bogeys, which got her a 4-over,” Sims said. “But I think she’s going to have a great run at state.”
What makes his 76 even more impressive is the fact that Kim had never seen Sycamore Springs, a very unforgiving course. She came out with an even par 36 on the front before a double bogey at the 17th led to a 40 on the back.
“We couldn’t go out for a practice round or anything, so she was playing the course blind,” Sims said. “She just knows what to do…as we’ve gone through it, consistency is the key – you just have to do it.
“She has a classic swing, so as long as she stays calm, she will keep going and play well.”
Caroline Sheldon of Wynford misses state with stroke
Disappointed might be an understatement to describe how sophomore Caroline Sheldon felt after seeing Otsego’s Elizabeth Budge par on the 18th hole to finish with an 84, securing the fourth and final individual state qualifying spot .
“I started off rough, but I came back and had my best round nine this year,” Sheldon said. “A stroke was the deciding factor, which is disappointing, but I’m only a sophomore and I still have two years left.
“And we have a good team. We’re all young…so next year we’ll be back and ready even better.”
Sheldon bounced back from a 47 on the back – his first nine – with a 38 on the front with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 4 and 5 for a new career-low nine-hole score.
“My mindset was to shoot better than I did earlier this year (88) because I don’t know the course very well, I’ve only played here twice,” he said. she declared. “This weekend we went out and practiced, which was good to see the course. It’s a long course, lots of trees, not very hilly, you just have to hit it straight.
“So that was my goal, to reach straight.”
His score also helped the Royals achieve their best finish as a team at districts, placing seventh with a 402. In two previous appearances, they finished 15th with a 449 (2021) and 10th with a 418 ( 2022), and only one golfer as of Tuesday was on that 2022 team.
“Seventh place is definitely a big improvement,” Wynford coach Sean Weisenauer said. “We just insisted after the turn to just improve your front nine. It was a tough nine for a lot of them, they were nervous. But on the back nine they all responded and they all shot lower than what they did in the first one, I felt like they finished very well.”
Sophomore Willa Johnson and junior Rylee Robinson each had a 103, freshman Megan Young a 111 and sophomore Maggie Ridge’s 116 was the drop.
“We played here earlier in the year (Findlay Invite), but compare that to the district tournament — it’s just a different environment,” Weisenauer said. “So it was a good experience for them to see that this is what we need to do, and we did a lot better than we did at the beginning of the year.
“It’s something they’ll grow from and hopefully next year we’ll be back here.”
Rival and section champion Colonel Crawford tied for eighth with Margaretta, each with a 407. Senior Madison Gray led the way with a 91 and saw her high school golf career come to an end. She was Northern 10 Player of the Year, set the N10 tournament record with a 78 and broke the school 18-hole record with a 76.
A trio of juniors of Rylie Hoepf (105), Sydney Furr (110) and Kaity Taylor (121) will return along with freshman Norrie Plank (101).
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This article was originally published on the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Mansfield St. Pete freshman Chae Yeon Kim qualifies for state golf
