Photo by Justin Martinez/MDN Minot High junior Jaci Jones sends a shot down the fairway of the second hole at Jamestown Country Club in the girls golf Class A State Tournament on Monday.

JAMESTOWN – Every stroke is crucial at the girls golf Class A State Tournament, and Becca Tschetter wasn’t about to give one up that easy.

After withstanding a grueling, 17-hole marathon in frigid conditions on Monday, the junior on Minot High’s girls golf team found herself with an opportunity to end Day 1 of the state tournament at the Jamestown Country Club in a three-way tie for first place individually.

Just under seven feet of green stood between Tschetter’s ball and the 18th hole as she surveyed the terrain and prepared for the lengthy put.

Tschetter took her shot, sending the ball rolling toward its target. The ball stayed true to its course and fell into the hole, giving her the birdie.

“I put in so much work on my game this year,” Tschetter said. “Having a good round at the state tournament was my personal goal, so to finish off the first day like that really boosts my confidence going into tomorrow.”

The shot gave Tschetter a final score of 79, tying her for first place with Bismarck Century’s Hannah Herbel and West Fargo Sheyenne’s Maggie Manson.

Tschetter’s stellar outing led the Majettes into second place with a team score of 345, while Bismarck Century sits in first with a 332. The 13-stroke deficit is going to be tough to overcome in round two, but Minot High head coach Scott Foltz will take it.

“Any time you can be in the top two or three at the state tournament, you feel like you have a fighting chance the next day,” Foltz said. “Golf is a game where you can’t control what the other team does. We can only control what we do tomorrow.”

Senior Joelle Fettig and junior Jaci Jones also had strong showings for the Majettes. Fettig finished in sixth place individually with an 84, while Jaci Jones shot an 85 to hold eight place.

The trio thrived on a course they refer to as their second home, as the Majettes have golfed at Jamestown Country Club seven times this season.

“We all felt really good going into today because we do know this course very well,” Jones said. “We know where to hit the ball on each hole, so that experience definitely helped us get that Top 3 finish.”

But, not all of Minot High’s golfers faired as well on Monday. After placing three golfers in the Top 10, the Majettes failed to record another golfer in the Top 30.

Rounding out the Majettes’ rotation was Bella Dobrinski (97), Sydney Berg (97) and Savanah Brintnell (98). It’s this lack of consistency from top to bottom that Foltz hopes to change as the Majettes make one final push for the state title this afternoon.

“We just need to break the game down to a single shot at a time,” Foltz said. “Hopefully, we’ll win more shots than we lose tomorrow. It should be fun.”

If Minot High does complete the comeback, the Majettes will earn their first state championship since 2009. It’s a goal Tschetter and company set from the very beginning of the regular season, and they refuse to go down without a fight.

“We’ve all worked really really hard for this moment,” Tschetter said. “To know that we’re still close to (Century) after the first day is incredible, and we all believe in ourselves. I think we can do it.”

Tschetter, playing in the final group that tees off at noon with Hannah Herbal and Manson, can become the first Majette to win medalist honors at the state tournament since Jaime Fundingsland won in back-to-back years in 1994 and 1995.

Justin Martinez covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JTheSportsDude.