Reese McCauley has her sights set on joining an elite company.
The Simley senior will look to become the seventh girls golfer in state history to become at least a three-time medalist when the two-day Class 3A tournament begins Tuesday at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids. The final round will conclude on Wednesday.
“Every year is different,” said McCauley, who received the Ms. Minnesota Golf award Sunday as the state’s top senior girl. “The goal is to win it, but I just want to play the best I can.”
The Class 2A and 1A tournaments will be held at the same time at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan (2A) and Pebble Creek in Becker.
Detroit Lakes’ Katie Smith won five individual titles, Minnehaha Academy’s Katie Detlefsen captured four and Red Wing’s Sophia Yoemans, St. Cloud Apollo’s Samantha Sommers, Breck’s Liza LaBelle and Hopkins Eisenhower’s Jody Rosenthal won three each. They were all in consecutive years.
McCauley is seeking his third in a four-year span. Ranked No. 1 in the state by the Minnesota Golf Association and committed to the Gophers for college, she is the defending state champion and was also a 2021 medalist.
“I would definitely be thrilled if I won it a third time,” McCauley said. “It would be great to be part of the group. It would be amazing.”
McCauley will be able to evaluate how he is doing during the first round. The No. 5-7 players in the MGA rankings: Orono junior Ava Hanneman, St. Michael-Albertville eighth-grader Abigail Labrador and Cretin-Derham Hall senior Lily Vincelli, They are in their quartet.
“I’m playing in a really good group,” McCauley said. “I’m excited and looking forward to it.”
No. 2 Maple Grove senior Amelia Morton and the Minnetonka tandem of third-ranked freshman Kieley Hanson and fourth-ranked sophomore Selena Wu are in groups little behind McCauley.
Morton’s Crimson team is the defending state champion team and is the favorite to compete back-to-back.
The Crimson men’s team is also ranked No. 1, led by top-ranked Ryan Stendahl. He is also headed to the Gophers and on Sunday was declared Mr. Minnesota Golf.
Spring Lake Park senior Jake Birdwell, ranked second, is the defending state champion. His younger brother, freshman Chase, is No. 4, just behind Cretin-Derham Hall junior Sam Udovich.
Edina is the defending state champion boys team and is looking to claim its third title. The Hornets have won three of the last five state titles with the other coming in 2019.
Others with repetition in mind
Two other individual medalists are also looking to compete consecutively. Staples-Motley senior Carter White, ranked fifth in the state, is the favorite in the Class 2A boys field, and Legacy Christian senior Raquelle Nelson, the defending girls state champion from Class 1A, makes the jump to Class 2A this year.
Totino-Grace, the defending state champion Class 2A boys team, is led by No. 6-ranked senior Peyton Savageau.
Pequot Lakes is positioned to repeat as Class 2A girls champions, but Lake City has an excellent chance to dethrone the Patriots. Lake City, led by sixth-ranked Jordana Windhorst-Knudsen, won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.
Lakeview is the favorite to successfully defend its Class 1A boys team championship.
Promising young people
The future of golf across the state looks bright. Here are five more non-senior boys and girls golfers to keep an eye on in the state tournament:
Children: Chanhassen juniors Lucas Arntsen and Andrew Ballou; Walker-Hackensack-Akeley junior Parker Brock; Joe Honsa, Cretin-Derham Hall junior; Edina junior Torger Ohe.
Girls: Payton Anderson, freshman from Maple Grove; Pequot Lakes junior Genevieve Birkeland; Sophie Cook, junior from Hawley; Emma Fitzmorris, Hill-Murray sophomore; and Owatonna sophomore Carmen Jirele.
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