The West Dakota Association (WDA) Region Golf Tournament is scheduled to take place Wednesday, May 29, at the Jamestown Country Club and the 2024 NDHSAA Class A Golf Tournament will take place Tuesday-Wednesday, June 4-5, at the Kingswalk Golf Course in Grand Forks. The last competition for the student-athletes on the golf teams was at the Dickinson Invitational held Friday, May 17, at the Heart River Golf Course.

That has left 12 days between competitive rounds of golf.

288 hours.

17,280 minutes.

1,036,800 seconds.

“This is the longest break we have ever had,” said Minot North head golf coach Shane Hannegrefs. ” We are shortening our structured practices [and] working on swing fundamentals at the driving range and using the practice holes at Souris Valley.

That level of pause in the season might have some coaches and players worried about ‘off time rust’ as a result of the break. Not so for at least the Sentinels with Minot North, as they live up to their mascot namesake.

“[The] team is comprised of avid golfers so I know they will go play holes on their own,” said Hannegrefs. “[Either] before or after our practice sessions.

The Sentinels have three first place finishes this season to go with the six second places and one third place finish. Minot North has battled all season with Bismarck Century. The Patriots have seven first place finishes and three second places- to Minot North.

The Minot North team is not senior heavy, but has experienced student-athletes walking the fairways. Juniors and sophomores tend to post the top five scores at each meet. But the team has eighth graders as well. With such young players, there is always something to work on to fine tune the small gap between first and second place finishing.

“Improving our wedge play will be important going into the regional and being able to save strokes from 125 yards and closer will be a priority for improving our rounds,” said Hannegrefs. “With school ending there are more opportunities to practice putting and chipping as well.”

The good news is that the players have seen the WDA course before.

“We play the Jamestown Country Club every year, “ said Hannegrefs. “Our second tournament of the season was there. It is a challenging course where the first nine can play long and the back nine has more risk and reward. We have a practice round the day before the regional in Jamestown.”

The regular thought process for all athletes, teams and coaches has been to take the next challenge and keep the focus on the next practice or workout that prepares everyone for the next competition. That being said, the state tournament and the associated golf course is not far from the minds of the Sentinels.

“We have not discussed Kings Walk during practice,” said Hannegrefs. ” I know some of the kids played there last year on the DJGA summer tour. We will make plans for practice in Grand Forks following the West Region tournament.”