The Crookston Pirate Boys Golf team shaved two strokes off their first-day score, but still finished sixth place at the Fergus Falls Invitational at Pebble Lake Golf Course in Fergus Falls. Crookston shot a two day total of 664 while Eden Prairie won the meet with a 609, 12 strokes better than Fergus Falls.
Crookston was led by Trey Christopherson with a couple of 82’s for a 162 two-day total. “Trey was consistent with 81’s each day and shook off a tough start today,” said Pirate Coach Steve Kofoed. “Trey finished strong and it sounded like he was hitting the ball well, but he struggled a bit around the greens.”
Jaxon Wang and Ben Andringa finished with 171’s and they had a nice second day. “Ben played well and might have been looking ahead late in his round with a couple of bogey’s,” said Coach Kofoed. “Jaxon had a solid two days and continues to show improvement. He cut a few strokes off his score today and that was nice to see.”
The biggest improvement for the Pirates came from Brock Heppner. He shot a 95 in the first round on Friday, but bounced back with a much better 83, shaving 12 strokes off his score. “Brock only had one hole with a penalty,” said Coach Kofoed. “He bounced back and showed great improvement and that was nice to see.”
The wind was strong for Saturday’s round so the course played a little tougher, but the Pirates still cut two strokes off their score. “We had four guys in the low 80’s and that was good,” said Coach Kofoed. “We haven’t been out on a course practicing and having improvement like we have is great to see.”
Crookston will head to the Bemidji Town and Country Club on Monday for the Bemidji Invitational.
| Teams | SCORE | Pirates | Score | |
| 1. Eden Prairie | 609 | Trey Christopherson | 162 | |
| 2. Fergus Falls | 621 | Jaxon Wang | 171 | |
| 3. West Fargo Sheyenne | 625 | Ben Andringa | 171 | |
| 4. Alexandria | 647 | Quinn Westlake | 172 | |
| 5. Roseau | 657 | Jack Ricord | 177 | |
| 6. Crookston | 664 | Brock Heppner | 178 | |
| Top Individuals | Score | |||
| 1. Aaron Shelstad-FF | 149 | |||
| 2. Hayden Shol-FF | 149 | |||
| 3. Matt Armstrong-EP | 149 |
FOR THE FINAL TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL SCORING, CLICK HERE
DAY ONE STORY AND SCORES
The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Golf team is in sixth place out of six teams at the Fergus Falls Invitational at the Pebble Lake Golf Course at Fergus Falls. Crookston shot a 333, while Eden Prairie leads the field with a 299, three strokes better than Fergus Falls.
The Pirates finished day one with a team score of 333. “For us, the big key was gonna be to make an improvement from what we had on Wednesday when we shot a 340, which was our low for the year, we did that and that was step one,” explained Crookston head coach Steve Kofoed. “I was very pleased that we got ourselves out, kind of battled through about one hour’s worth of rain to start during the warm-up sessions and the first couple of holes to start. For us to be able to get out on probably the most difficult course we’ve played this year was good for us to be able to get out and play and out what it felt like to play in a two-day tournament for the first time this year.” Trey Christopherson and Quinn Westlake both led the way for the Pirates turning in an 81s. “Trey got off to a pretty good start,” said Kofoed. “Quinn got off to a pretty good start. Those two led us both with 81 and I think they both feel like they probably could’ve shot something in that mid to upper 70s. Hopefully, we can make a few adjustments tomorrow. Get off to a good start and try to break 80 for the first time for a Pirate this year.” Jack Ricord turned in an impressive 84, which he was happy with according to his coach, “I think he was pretty proud of his score of 40 on the back nine (holes), Jack got through 16, 17, and 18 with three pars which was good.” Jaxon Wang turned in an 87 to round out Crookston’s top four scorers while Ben Andringa shot an 88 in his opening round. “I don’t think they played poorly,” noted Kofoed. “They just didn’t really get themselves in any kind of run of solid golf where they put together four, five, or six holes at even-par or one-over.” Crookston will look to continue to improve in day two of the competition as the Pirates continue to play competitive rounds without having a chance to practice on their home course yet, “the place we finish is not necessarily as important as us seeing ourselves improve each time we get out in a tournament setting and get another round of golf underneath our belt and we’re seeing that.”
Crookston wraps up the Fergus Falls Invitational on Saturday with 18 more holes starting at 9:00 a.m.
| Teams | SCORE | Pirates | Score | |
| 1. Eden Prairie | 299 | Trey Christopherson | 81 | |
| 2. Fergus Falls | 302 | Quinn Westlake | 81 | |
| 3. West Fargo Sheyenne | 316 | Jack Ricord | 84 | |
| 4. Alexandria | 323 | Jaxon Wang | 87 | |
| 5. Roseau | 327 | Ben Andringa | 88 | |
| 6. Crookston | 333 | Brock Heppner | 95 | |
| Top Individuals | Score | |||
| 1. Matt Armstrong -EP | 73 | |||
| 2. Three with 74 |
