State Golf

The elements were the X-factor when the best golfers and teams in Class B converged at CrossRoads Golf Club in Carrington for two days of abbreviated action Wednesday and Thursday, June 5-6.

A three-plus-inch downpour several hours before play was supposed to begin on Tuesday, June 4, postponed the entire first day of golf to Wednesday. The original plan was to play an 18-hole one day event that day, but flooding on the southern portion of the course shortened the round to just nine holes.

With holes one through six still unplayable Thursday, the second day was cut to 12 holes, for a two-day total of 21.

A pair of local golfers competed in this year's Class B state golf meet, including New Rockford-Sheyenne's Jackson Schumacher for the second year running.

Schumacher tied with six other golfers for 29th overall at this year's state meet, shooting 39-57-96, and Grady Shipman of Carrington finished in a six-way tie for 101st place (41-64-105).

Schumacher's impressive 29th place finish is an improvement on his finish at state last year, when he came in 54th place overall. As just a sophomore, the future of Rocket golf seems bright with Schumacher leading the way, and he'll be looking to continue lowering his scores in the years ahead.

The big finish for the Harvey/Wells County Hornets was led by sophomore Carson Heilman's 92 (36-56), good enough for 13th place. Other H/WC shooters were Ryan McKinven (94, 21st place), Michael Felchle, Kayl Sieg and Franklin Graumann (all shooting 100, 63rd-tie) and Garrett Heilman (101, 74th).

Meanwhile, at the top of the leaderboards, Bottineau's Max Palmer took home the Class B state championship after shooting a one-over-par 35 on Wednesday, then battling gusty winds on Thursday to birdie his first two holes and shoot par on the next five.

Even while bogeying three of the final five holes, Palmer held off runner-up finisher Hunter Bindas of Kindred and 2022 state champion Champ Hettich of Beulah by two shots.

Palmer shot even par at 86 (35-51) for the tournament, and Bindas carded an 88 (35-53), as did Hettich (34-54). His championship came three years after another Brave, Jaden McCloud, won 2021 medalist honors, coincidentally on the same course.

Rounding out the All-State finishers were Reggie Rice of Grafton, Cody Fugleberg of May-Port-CG and Andrew Bilstad of Oak Grove, all shooting 89, followed by Aidan Zuger of Oak Grove, Cade Fitterer of Dickinson Trinity, Grant Cosley of North Border, Jake Thompson of Central Cass and William Olson of Oak Grove, who shot 90.

With those three top-10 finishers, Oak Grove won the Class B championship with an 18-over-par score of 364 (142-222). It is the sixth championship for the Grovers in school history, following titles in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2021.

The top five team finishers were Central Cass (373), Kindred (378), Dickinson Trinity (380) and H/WC (383).

In other individual honors, Palmer was named the Class B Senior Athlete of the Year following the tournament, and his coach, Nate Simpson, was honored as the Coach of the Year for the division.