I’m going to give you some short stories or observations from the state golf meet. I spent two days at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker, Minnesota. I was there to cover the LQPV girls golf team and other area individual golfers. So, here we go with some of my experiences.

I left Madison late Monday afternoon and drove to Monticello to check into my motel. Monticello is only 15 minutes from the Becker golf course. The cost of my motel room at the AmericInn was $59 per night! The room was very clean and the staff was pleasant and they had a nice breakfast.

There was a Perkins Restaurant next to my motel. I posted on Facebook about my experience with the waitress. I like Perkins and Roxie and I eat there often when traveling. My post on Facebook about my experience with the waitress got a lot of negative responses and I felt bad because my post came across kind of rude and mean. I didn’t mean it like that, the waitress was a nice young lady and we visited and I tipped her, even though I was upset about her going out to smoke a cigarette before turning in my order to the kitchen.

The LQPV girls were on the tee box by 7:30am for an early start and I wanted to be there to cheer them on and take some pictures for social media. I found a nice parking space close to the clubhouse and picked up my golf cart, I was ready for the day. I watched the Eagles tee off along with Kara Rangaard from Canby and Dawson-Boyd’s Lindsey Lund and Allysa Swedzinski. Then I parked my golf cart between holes 5 and 6 and watched them come in on 5 and tee off on 6.

Peyton Sachs is only an 8th grader and when she got done putting on hole 5 she walked by me with her golf cart and a big smile, it was one of the best pictures I took at state. She was having fun.

Grace Vacek is another girl on the team that is always smiling and having a great time. However, when I was watching her on hole 5, I believe she 4 putted and when she walked by me she still had a smile on her face. She said to me. “Paul, I’m still smiling”. I thought that was pretty cool. I would have been mad at myself for 4 putting. She put that bad hole behind her and birdied the next hole!

The food at the Pebble Creek Golf Course is really good. I will post some pictures. Both days I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Great service and outstanding food.

Dawson-Boyd’s Alyssa Swedzinski was at state for her second time. Alyssa is one of my favorites to interview. She is so personable and fun to listen to. However the first day of golf wasn’t the best for her and she didn’t play well so I didn’t know if I should bother her for an interview. Alyssa was nice enough to say yes to an interview so we sat in my golf cart and started the interview. You could tell she was down and a little upset about how she had golfed. She had a large stick in her hand and as we were talking she snapped the stick in half! I think out of frustration. But we ended the interview with laughter and I loved what she said. “That’s golf, tomorrow is a new day”.

Day two is when all the excitement happens. My friend, Julie Asfeld, joined me in the golf cart. Julie is the marketing and social media director at LQPV. She is at every event and does a great job covering the activities for the school and putting them on social media. We were sitting between hole 5 and 6 and watching the girls come in, there was a group with Kara Rangaard, along with Lindsey Lund and a girl named Kianna Johnson from Walker/Hackensack. Kianna was in the sand trap across the green from where we were sitting. She hit her ball too hard and it was coming right at us. I was standing outside the golf cart at the time but Julie was sitting inside the cart scrolling on her phone. I yelled “look out” the ball hit inside my cart and just missed Julie. That could have been bad if it would have hit her. The best thing was Julie was okay, but a little shaken up and Kianna was nice enough to come over and apologize to her. We told Kianna we would like a picture with her later. We all had a good laugh.

When I first saw Canby’s Kara Rangaard and her coach Adam Richter on Wednesday I smiled. They had to be the best dressed coach/player on the golf course. They both looked really sharp. After Kara was done golfing I took a cool picture of Adam giving her a hug. Kara has a cool story. She really didn’t start golfing until she was a sophomore and went out for golf as a joke with a friend. Then she golfs in two state tournaments and now is going to golf in college. That’s a great story.

Bella Jacobs is the leader of the LQPV girls golf team and she is an amazing golfer. I think she has been on the team since 8th grade. Her mom has always taken a picture of Bella and me every year and it was sad to take our last picture after the awards ceremony. She will be playing college golf at SMSU next year.

The Eagle girls were in a close battle with Fillmore Central. Kaitlyn Kittleson was the last girl to come up on hole 18. I felt for her, because there was so much pressure on her walking up to 18. Almost everyone knew we were one stroke difference with Fillmore Central. I was wondering if Kaitlyn knew. I was hoping she didn’t so she could just concentrate on doing well on the last hole. You could tell she was relieved it was over when her teammates rushed up to her after she sank the last putt on 18 for the one stroke win.

The biggest event happened twice. Both Lindsey Lund and Carson Besonen eagled on the last hole! That eagle got them a medal! I didn’t see Lindsey’s 137 yard eagle but heard the roar of the crowd. I saw Carson’s chip in from about 110 yards. So exiting for both of them and their families.

The Blackjacks Carson Stratmoen just finished his 8th grade year and is a really good golfer. I followed him for a few holes. When Carson was finished I was interviewing him and you could tell he really enjoyed being at state and wants to go back again.

LQPV Eagle Kate Ulstad knocked 37 strokes off her score from last year at state. She was all smiles holding the state trophy up in the air.

My experience at state golf is so much fun with lots of memories. I could go on with more stories, like Lisa Lund sharing her cookies with me and visiting with an icon in sports writing, Tom Elliot, from the Willmar paper to being present to experience the LQPV girls win another state championship! Enjoy the slideshow below.