JORDAN — Carter White was on a rollercoaster Tuesday, June 11.
The good thing for the Staples-Motley junior and defending Class 2A state champion is he ended his opening round the same way he started it -- even par. Ladies Watches
White’s round featured seven birdies, but only four pars as he recorded a double bogey on his second hole and rattled off three bogeys on his next four holes to find himself 4-over through six.
“He had a little difficulty with his accuracy for his first six holes,” S-M head coach Glen Hasselberg said.
Birdies on holes 7 and 9 along with one on the opening hole had White going out in 1-over 38.
He got it back to even quickly with consecutive birdies to start the back nine. A bogey on 13 was followed by a birdie on 14. A birdie on 16 was followed by a bogey on 17.
White sits in fourth place and just two shots off the lead held by Hawley’s Jack Justesen and Rochester Lourdes’ Colton Rich.
“He’s just going to go out and play his game and let the rest of the field come back to him,” White said. “We’ll see what the weather is going to do tomorrow. Today was breezy. The greens were rather hard and rather slick and the breeze was creating issues. Not just for him, but for everybody. I thought he putted quite well today.”
Pequot Lakes’ Tollef Birkeland opened his state tournament with an 83 to fall into a tie for 53rd place. The freshman carded two birdies, but doubles on nine and 17 had him shooting nines of 43-40.
Fellow S-M Cardinal Mallory Uselman finds herself in the top 10 on the girls’ side with an opening 79. Her round was highlighted by a birdie on the par 4 second hole, her 11th of the round.
Uselman opened on the back nine and after four consecutive bogeys and five in her first six holes settled in with six pars and the birdie. She bogeyed three of her last four holes to shoot a 2-over 38 on her second nine.
Hasselberg said Uselman’s knowledge of the course was a benefit Tuesday. That and her ball striking was on point.
“She’s in a real good spot,” Hasselberg said. “If she puts a good number up tomorrow she could pass a lot of people. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and she’s played in rain once or twice this year -- like all spring.”
Tied at 79 and in eighth place is Pequot’s Genevieve Birkeland. The junior also opened on the back nine and carded four bogeys to go out in 4-over. She opened her second nine with a double bogey-bogey start, but birdied her last hole to close out in 3-over 39.
Birkeland’s 79 has the Patriots, the defending Class 2A team champions, tied for fourth with a 355. Detroit Lakes leads the field with a 327.
“Genevieve played well, but I know there were a few holes she left a few shots out there,” Pequot Lakes head coach Savannah Nelson said. “Her putting at the beginning of the round, she wasn’t rolling the putts to the hole. We chatted halfway through and she started rolling them a little bit better. She birdied the last hole to help us tie for fourth.”
Teammates Annie Neva and Charlee Sullivan fired rounds of 91 and 92 respectively. Neva posted four birdies, but found trouble on seven holes. She is tied for 52nd.
Sullivan birdied the par 5 seventh hole to land in a tie for 54th.
Alexa Pietig was a shot behind in 59th place. The sophomore carded three pars for her 93.
“It was playing tough out there,” Nelson said. “It was windy and we played in like six hours. It was just insane. From the whole field, there were some higher scores for sure. I thought we got off to a pretty solid start. We started on the back nine and then got down to 12-13-14, I call it the ‘Amen Corner of Ridges and Sand Creek.’ It’s very challenging. There are forced carries on each one of those holes. We struggled a little bit there. We had a few balls in the water and we racked up a few strokes.
“Annie struggled the most down there and kind of rallied back and had some ups and downs throughout the round. She’s determined for tomorrow.”
“Charlie and Alexa were just battling through the tough conditions. They both played well and I know they have some areas they can improve on tomorrow, which is great.”
Pierz’s Whitney LeBlanc fired an 87 to tie for 38th. The freshman peppered her round with two birdies on the par 3 third and the par 5 seventh. She shot nines of 41-46.
Little Falls’ eighth-grader Imagine HInes opened with a 93 to tie for 59th
Watches World JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 218-855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop.