The Northfield High School boys golf team finished the 2023 season just nine strokes away from the top of the highly competitive Section 1AAA leaderboard.
Rochester Mayo won the Section last spring with a score of 601, while Northfield placed fifth with a tally of 609 behind Albert Lea (603), Rochester Century (606) and Farmington (608).
The Raiders will face another tough challenge in the Big 9 Conference and in Section 1AAA, but their outlook should be a strong one, as Northfield brings back four of its top six golfers from last year’s varsity squad.
“We have four guys returning, which is nice and we also have some good talented younger guys and a senior captain Sam Boardman, who has made a lot of improvements over the last year,” NHS head coach Adam Danielson said.
The group of returners will be led by sophomore Elias Ekern, who gained All-Big 9 honors during his freshman season in 2023. Senior Hank Detle is back in the lineup for Northfield along with junior Will Cashin and Griffin Kennelly, who both played on the NHS hockey team that advanced to the MSHSL Class A state tournament in 2023 and 2024.
“We have those four guys coming back but we have a lot of guys competing for varsity spots this season,” Danielson said.
Boardman is one of those players looking to make an impact in 2024 and he sees the ingredients for success on the squad.
“We have lots of young guys coming back from last year and we have tons of ninth graders coming out,” Boardman said. “I’m really excited to see the development of the guys. There are a lot of new guys. Last year we had 15 players and now it has grown to 24.”
Boardman also added his thoughts on being a captain this season and what that leadership role means to him.
“As a captain, I am really looking forward to getting to know everybody. I’m going to really try to work with everyone, get them to feel comfortable and let them know they have someone they can talk to if they have questions…just be a face that people want to see when they come to practice,” Boardman said.
Sophomore Oliver Benjamin, another one of the hockey players at NHS playing for the golf team, and ninth grader Miles Poole are two other names to watch during the upcoming varsity schedule for the Raiders.
“All of those guys play junior tournaments all summer long and we also had a couple guys play in a tournament down south this winter. There are also a lot of guys who did winter training, so we have a lot of dedicated kids throughout our program,” Danielson said.
The trend in off-season training has grown in recent years with the advancement of golf simulator technology that allows for golfers in places like Minnesota to keep swinging even during the cold winter months.
“That’s something that has changed in my 12 years of doing this. Guys can get better in the winter time. I couldn’t say that 12 years ago. There were simulators then but there weren’t as many of them around,” Danielson said. “Now you can go and get lessons during the winter time and it is crazy how much better kids can get over the cold months.”
As the Raiders look forward to the upcoming 2024 season, Rochester Mayo should be a top team to contend with in both the Big 9 and Section 1AAA. Rochester Century is another team to watch and Albert Lea was another top four team at the Section meet. In addition, Lakeville South and North along with Farmington will be top challengers in the Section race.
A program with a strong tradition of success, Northfield’s Nate Stevens won the Class AAA individual title in 2021 and 2022, and Danielson believes his squad has been able to build on that foundation set by Stevens — who is now playing college golf at the University of Notre Dame this season.
“Obviously that is someone (Stevens) who is very hard to replace, but last year was fun because we had a lot of guys who made up for that and now we have a guy who can play that number spot with Elias Ekern. He’s a really talented young golfer,” Danielson said.
Northfield opened its season with a dual match against Rochester Century and will continue on Monday, April 25 with a road trip to Albert Lea. Key dates on this year’s schedule include a May 21 date at the Big 9 Conference tournament at the Rochester Eastwood Golf Course and the Section 1AAA meet at The Jewel Golf Club in Lake City, Minn.
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