Adam Papin/MDN Minot High’s Morgan Strange tees off at the Minot Invite earlier in the season. On Monday, the Majettes qualified for next week’s Class A state tournament in Grand Forks.

BISMARCK – For one Minot high school, it was the thrill of victory. For the other, the agony of defeat.

Minot High’s girls golf team punched their ticket to the NDHSAA Class A Girls State Golf Championship with a fifth-place finish at the West Region tournament yesterday at Tom O’Leary Golf Course in Bismarck. The top six teams qualified.

“We knew that second through sixth place was going to be close,” said Minot High head coach Scott Foltz. “The team had a few blowup holes which made it much closer than we anticipated.”

According to Foltz, senior Adison Dittus used her short game and putter to lead the Majettes and qualify for the All-Tournament team.

“Overall, I still feel like we are improving, and I feel like we will play our best golf of the season in Grand Forks next week,” said Foltz.

On the other hand, Minot North saw their season end when they finished just a single stroke back of sixth-place Jamestown.

“Everyone has strokes they’d love to have back, but they had a good year,” said Minot North golf coach Michael DeLorme. “Hopefully, this makes us hungry for next year.”

As the Sentinels are comprised entirely of underclassman who will become the first graduating classes at the still under-construction Minot North High School, the entire roster will return next year more experienced.

While the Sentinels may not be competing as a team next week at state, two individuals from the squad will be. Emersyn Kopp and Kinzy Welstad both qualified with top ten individual finishes. Kopp tied for eighth place with an 84, while Welstad’s 86 put her in a three-way for tenth place. Both Kopp and Welstad were named to the All-Tournament team after their top ten finishes.

Welstad was also named to the All-WDA team based on her season scoring average.

Mandan put five golfers in the top six to run away with the West Region title. Anna Huettl continued her WDA dominance, carding a 1-under 71 to take medalist honors. Teammate Rudy Hedyt finished runner-up with a 77.

Bismarck’s Paige Breuer recorded an 81 to finish in third place.

The Mandan trio of Brittyn Mettler, Isabella Hale and Brooklyn Monteith all shot an identical 82 to round out the top five.

Bismarck St. Mary’s 352 was forty strokes back of Mandan’s 312, but it was good enough to place second as a team. Cross-town rival Bismarck Century finished third, eight shots back of the Saints. The Dickinson Midgets placed fourth, their 361 one shot back of Century.

There was little separation between the middle teams. Fifth-place Minot High (369) and eighth-place Williston (378) were only nine strokes apart on the day. In between, were Jamestown (374) and Minot North (375).

The 2023 NDHSAA Class A Girls Golf State Tournament will be held Oct. 2-3, at Grand Forks Country Club in Grand Forks. Tee times for area golfers will be determined in the near future.

Local finishers:

Minot High-Adison Dittus-86, Morgan Strange-91, Katie Thomas-94, Cali Wilson-98, Samantha Lentz-115 and Kenadee Burud-116.

Minot North-Emersyn Kopp-84, Kinzy Welstad-86, Carlie Brown-99, Katelyn Bast-106, Ally Larson-109 and Abigail Speer-122.