Section 3 golf: The Rosemount boys have arrived

Irish qualify for their first state team tourney

Rosemount already looked like a team of the future but now it appears the Irish are a team of the present, too.

Their all-underclassmen lineup cruised to the Class 3A, Section 3 championship last week. They had the lowest round each day of the 36-hole tournament and won by 17 strokes. Eagan was second, 14 strokes ahead of St. Thomas Academy and Park of Cottage Grove, the teams that tied for third place.

East Ridge won the Section 3 girls championship by 12 strokes over Two Rivers. Reigning South Suburban Conference champion and defending section champion Eastview finished fourth.

The first round of the Section 3 tournament was held May 30 at Loggers Trail in Stillwater and the second round was May 31 at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids, the site of the state Class 3A tourney June 11-12.

Section 3 boys

The Minnesota State High School League started awarding a team championship in boys golf in 1943. In the eight decades to follow, Rosemount was nowhere near that title. In fact, next week will be the first time the school’s boys golf program has qualified for state as a team.

But this Irish group is set on establishing new traditions. In May they won the South Suburban Conference boys golf championship for the first time and took the school’s first title in any conference since 1991.

They did it with a talented group that’s going to be around for a while. Their Section 3 lineup consisted of one junior (Joey Mackinac), two sophomores and three freshmen. A team with that much youth might be expected to struggle in the final round of a big tournament, but the Irish stomped on the accelerator with a score of 293 in the final round at Bunker Hills. It was the only sub-300 score by any team in the tournament and brought the Irish in with a two-day total of 597.

Leo Vincelli, a St. Thomas Academy sophomore and Rosemount resident, was Section 3 medalist with rounds of 74 and 73 for a 147 total, 3 over par. One stroke behind was Rosemount freshman Carter Rath, whose second-round 71 was one of three scores under par that day.

Mackinac tied for third with 77-73–150. Rosemount sophomore Mason Eaton shot 77-75–152 to tie for sixth. Freshman Wyatt Holmes tied for eighth with 79-74–153. Connor Stacy, a sophomore, tied for 11th with 78-76–154. Freshman Cooper Zydowsky held the individual lead after the first round with a 73 at Loggers Trail. He shot 82 in the second round but still tied for 15th with a 155 total.

Rosemount didn’t have to count a score higher than 77 in the first round and counted a 71, 73, 74 and 75 in the second round.

Eagan also improved from Day 1 to Day 2, shooting 312 at Loggers Trail and 302 at Bunker Hills. Although the Wildcats won’t be going to the state tournament as a team, senior Noah Falteysek secured an individual state berth by tying for sixth in Section 3 with 78-74–152. Eli Johnson, also a senior, tied for eighth with 76-77–153 and went to a playoff with Matthew Heymans of Two Rivers for one state tournament spot. Heymans won the playoff on the first extra hole.

Twelve boys teams teed it up on the first day of the section tournament, with the top five – Rosemount, Eagan, St. Thomas Academy, Park of Cottage Grove and East Ridge – advancing to the second round. Eastview, Apple Valley and Burnsville were among the teams missing the cut.

Logan Kollofski and Jordan Brothers of Eastview, Jack Slattery of Burnsville and TJ Robb of Apple Valley were among players advancing to the second day of the section individual competition.

Section 3 girls

Simley senior Reese McCauley, the defending Class 3A girls individual champion and also the winner in 2021, won the Section 3 championship by eight strokes, shooting 74 in each of her rounds at Loggers Trail and Bunker Hills.

Tying for third and earning a state tournament berth was Apple Valley senior Avary Johnson, who shot 78-81–159. Eastview senior Megan Young placed 11th with 87-86–173 and Eagan junior Bridget Behles finished 14th with 90-89–179. Burnsville senior Bailey Tilley tied for 15th with 89-91–180.

Also making it to the second round of the individual competition was Alyssa Fitzgerald of Rosemount (22nd), Gabi Petersen of Rosemount (tied for 24th), Eleanor Carlson of Apple Valley (27th) and Kyli Knutson of Rosemount (32nd).

Eastview advanced to the second round as a team, while Apple Valley, Eagan, Rosemount and Burnsville were among teams missing the 18-hole cut.

Seniors Serafina Swanson and Anna Pitts were 18th and 20th individually for Eastview, and junior Addison Schafer was 23nd. Two more Eastview juniors, Addison Hedrick and Haley Rasmussen, were 29th and tied for 32nd.

State schedule

The state Class 3A tournament will be Tuesday, June 11, and Wednesday, June 12, at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids. Boys tee times start at 7:30 a.m. each day, and the first girls groups will tee off at noon.

Maple Grove is defending Class 3A girls team champion and will compete next week after winning the Section 5 championship. Edina, the Class 3A boys champion in 2023, finished second to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in this year’s Section 6 tourney.