By Bruce Karnick

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Inver Wood Golf Course in Inver Grove Heights has 27 holes on 275 acres of rolling, wooden terrain. Once you step foot on it, you would never imagine you are less than 15 minutes from the capital city of St. Paul. It’s a beautiful course with plenty of elevation changes and a plethora of shade trees. It would be a surprise to hear that this course is not a favorite of area golfers. As of May 10, this course may be the favorite of the Raiders as the boys won the match over HillMurray and Simley.

Hastings finished with a team score of 155 to HillMurray’s 160 and Simley’s 163. Freshman Jon Harris had his best round of the season coming in winning with a one under 35. Junior Charlie Williams was one behind him with an even par 36, Junior Martin Onnen Stepped up big with a 40 and Freshman Luke Kendal completed the win with a 44.

With the boys just a few feet away in the team van, boys head coach Matt Klein took a moment to recap the day.

“Coming in, a 155 is a pretty dang good score for us. Obviously, we had a career round from ninth grader John Harris where he went one under today. Charlie Williams fires an even par 36, and we had to piece it together from there. Martin Onnen hit it a great shot for a 40 and if he finishes a little stronger, he's in the 30s quite easily so we got some great depth and earned the win. I’m just excited for what these knuckleheads are doing right now,” Klein said drawing laughs and cheers from the van.

The camaraderie between the boys and coach Klein is clear, they enjoy the relationships built both from the golf season and the hockey season. Yes, many of the golfers are hockey players under coach Klein too, and there is certainly a ton of respect for each other to be able to goof around during an interview.

Prior to the Tuesday win, the Raiders travelled to Mendakota Country Club on May 9 to face St. Thomas Academy and South St. Paul. STA won with a 153, Hastings finished second with 161 and SSP finished with a 191. Individually, Onnen led with a 39, Williams shot 40, Kendal and Jon Harris each a 41.

The boys participated at the “Battle at Bunker Hills” a best ball tournament against Farmington. Hastings fell to the Tigers, 276290. Individually, the format of the tournament allowed 12 golfers to participate. Their scores can be found in the leaderboard at the end of this article. The boys have one more match at Hastings Golf Club on May 19 at 3 p.m. before they travel to River Oaks Golf Course for the conference championships on May 25 at 11 a.m.

On the girl’s side, they had three matches in five days kicking off the week on May 9 at Keller Golf Course against HillMurray. It was a rough windy day, but the girls pulled off a win. Lauren Hubbart shot a 45 and was medalist that day. Coming in with 46’s were Maddy Daley, Emma Langenfeld and Lauren Skov. Hastings scored a 183 and HillMurray shot a 192.

May 10 at Inver Wood, they had a dual meet against Simley where they placed second. 164177. Senior Maddy Daley topped the Hastings leaderboard at 41, followed by fellow senior Lauren Hubbart with a 43. Seniors Ashlyn Endres and Emma Langenfeld rounded out the top four with 45 and 48, respectively. The normal leaders for the Raiders, Megan Brown and Lauren Skov were paired with the top two golfers in the state, the McCauley sisters. Both Skov and Brown finished with a disappointing 50. Thankfully, high school golf is a team sport and their teammates picked them up.

“Maddy played really well against Simley,” said Head Coach Becky Hartung. “Her putting and chipping were on all day. Simley has the top two golfers in the state, and they are a really tough team to beat. In order to be competitive in this conference we need four girls scoring in the low 40’s, and hopefully, the way they are playing someone will break 40.”

The AllConference 9hole match was at Manitou Ridge where Hastings took third.

“We are slowly getting to where we want to be. We had three girls in the low 40’s but really need a fourth low score. Maddy Daley shot a 40 and played really consistent golf. Megan Brown and Lauren Hubbart both drove the green on number 9, a short par four. It was so fun to see that. Both were surprised to have hit it that far. They both ended up parring the hole. Megan had two birdies that day and shot a 41, Lauren Hubbart shot a 42 and Lauren Skov shot a 48. Simley shot 162, Two Rivers 167, Hastings 171, Mahtomedi 182, HillMurray 192 and South St. Paul 219,” explained Coach Hartung.

The girls will face Two Rivers at Hidden Greens on May 19 at 3:00 p.m. for their final regular season match before they head to Highland National Golf Course for the Varsity Conference Championships on May 24 at 9 a.m.

Rocking the pink, the Raider boys won the threeway match against HillMurray and Simley at Inver Wood Golf Course in Inver Grove Heights. Left to right: Luke Kendall, Martin Onnen, Jake Haris, Charlie Williams, Jon Harris, Luke Savage and Coach Matt Klein. Photo by Bruce Karnick