Alex Eisen/MDN Minot High golfer Easton Evanoff putts at last year’s Class A state tournament at the Grand Forks Country Club.

The wait is over.

After a couple long weeks of practicing on the indoor putting green and teeing off on the simulator or inside the Minot State air-supported dome, the Minot High School boys golf team finally hits the links today for its first competitive round of golf this season at the Edgewood Golf Course in Fargo.

The Magicians hope the struggles they have overcome to start the spring has strengthened them going into this new campaign.

“We said, ‘Make the best out of a bad situation,’ and they have done a great job of that,” MHS coach Shane Hannegrefs said. “It was some extra hours for the coaches — and I have a great support staff with Michael DeLorme and Jason Bennett, they are awesome — but, I think it’s going to pay off because we did swing the clubs a lot even though we were inside. We chipped and putted, now we have to get used to the grass from the turf.”

Bolstering a roster with five seniors did ease some of the tension that comes with being locked indoors. Their leadership has the Magi poised for what could be a memorable season.

“We expect big things from them,” Hannegrefs said. “We also have some underclassmen who are experienced tournament golfers and have really made some strives over the summer and into the spring. We might have the strongest team that I have had since I’ve been here from top to bottom.”

MHS last won the team state championship in 2003, but have captured the last three West Region titles (based on regular season scoring average).

The Magi finished eighth in the state tournament last season after a disappointing opening round that saw them 15 strokes out of the Top 5.

“We need to come out at state and put the pressure on,” senior Damyn Boyce said about the lesson learned from last season. “Not staying back because that didn’t help us going into the second day.”

Now-seniors Kessler Heilman and Spencer Ross were Minot’s best finishers at state last season. Both shot 159 (+15) in the two-day tournament to tie for 18th.

Both golfers have won high school tournaments in the past and each of them made the 2017 All-WDA tournament team with teammate Easton Evanoff, who is also a senior this season.

“We got a lot of seniors, so it kind of makes you feel like it’s going to be a good year,” Evanoff said. “But, you can never get that easy feeling that this is going to be our year. You can have high hopes, but you still got to play and back it up with some scores.”

Hannegrefs added: “I don’t know if I have ever said that we have four kids who could go win tournaments. But, we do. And I don’t quite know where our underclassmen are at yet, but they are pretty good too.”

Minot also brings back experienced junior Otto Langhans.

So, on paper, the Magi have the depth to compete with defending West Region tournament champions Bismarck Century — a team that didn’t graduate anybody — and really anybody else in the state.

But, the competition is always stiff, especially out east.

The EDA took the Top 4 spots at the state tournament last year with Grand Forks Red River claiming the crown ahead of West Fargo Sheyenne, Fargo Davies and Grand Forks Central.

Half (10) of the Top 20 individuals in the 2017 state tournament field graduated, including medalist Justin Nelson from Wahpeton. So, while most of the teams try to fill in the gaps at the top of their lineup cards, the Magi feel confident with what they have.

“We got tons of experience coming back with guys that have played in a lot of tournaments,” Boyce said. “We are going to be a strong team, I believe.”

The season-opening East-West Classic being held today and Saturday in Fargo will allow the Magi to just get back into the swing of things.

“We have hardly played any holes outside, so anything can happen,” Hannegrefs said. “I don’t think the first tournament round is going to dictate what happens in your season. If we play well, that’s great. If we don’t play well, it’s our first swings outside in a tournament on a course we don’t really know at all. I’m not going to worry. When we get to the end of May, I think we were going to be a quality golf team. A team that can win any tournament that we play in.”

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.