CROOKSTON BOY’S GOLF FINISHES 6TH PLACE IN GRAFTON INVITE AT KING’S WALK

The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Golf team shot 372 and finished sixth place out of eight teams in their first round of the season and the first round since 2019 in the Grafton (N.D.) Invitational that was held at the King’s Walk Golf Course in Grand Forks, N.D.  Kindred won the meet with a 323.  “We have been practicing for eight days and out on the first possible day for the first time in maybe 17 years,” said Pirate Coach Steve Kofoed. “It was a nice day until the rain came for the last hour or so.  It was fun.”

Crookston was led by Kaleb Thinglestad, who finished third overall, with a 79 in his first meet as a Pirate.  “It was a great first round, especially for a kid that was playing in a meet for us for the first time,” said Coach Kofoed. “He has played some golf, and watching him play a few holes, he understands what he needs to do, and he was looking at a yardage book.  To shoot a 79, it should be a fun year for him.”
Blaine Andringa shot an 88, and Brannon Tangquist shot a 99 for the three under 100.  Ashton Shockman shot a 106 in his first varsity meet, Gavin Anderson shot a 110 in his first varsity round, and Jaxon Wang shot a 127.  “We saw a few double-digit scores, and if you hit it in the long grass, it was pretty gnarly, laying down and hard to find the ball,” said Coach Kofoed. “Besides those, the attitudes were pretty good, and they bounced back nicely.  They haven’t played a competitive high school round for a couple of years, so this is a good starting point.”
Coach Kofoed was pleasantly surprised with the score, especially when you factor in the lack of varsity experience on the team this year.  “Coming over, we had no idea what we were going to shoot.  Jaxon Wang is the only player on the team with a lot of varsity experience,” said Coach Kofoed. “For us to be able to get out and play and have a couple of decent scores and the boys happy for the most part with their scores, it was definitely a first good step.”  
The Pirates were just happy to get their first-round in. “We haven’t played a competitive round of golf, for a lot of the guys, in two years,” said Coach Kofoed. “We have a base round, and most of them realize they can improve, but it was nice to get the round in with pretty good attitudes.”

Crookston will be off until Friday, April 16 when they travel to the Detroit Lakes Invitational at Lakeview Golf Course.