Submitted Photo Minot North senior Kinzy Welstad has earned medalist honors in two of the three tournaments she’s played this season, while also setting a new personal-best score and winning her first playoff. Photo courtesy of Minot North.

The school year hasn’t even started yet, but no one is enjoying their senior year more than Minot North golfer Kinzy Welstad.

In her final season on the links, Welstad has two tournament victories to her name in three chances, shooting a career low in one and winning in a playoff in another, racking up hardware in the process.

“With it being my senior year, I’ve just been really playing relaxed and not getting so frustrated with myself and being able to bounce back from bad shots and making sure it doesn’t turn into bad holes,” Welstad said. “I’m trying to avoid the big numbers and getting into a groove. It’s just been really fun.”

Welstad’s newfound demeanor was on full display this past week at the Watford City Invite at Fox Hills Golf Course, where she approached the 18th hole trailing Mandan’s Stray Ressler by a stroke in the individual competition. She birdied the 382-yard par 5 to force a playoff before eventually winning after two holes. Welstad won the first playoff in her golfing career with an approach shot to within a few feet of the hole, and proceeded to convert the birdie putt for the victory.

“It was just staying calm and trusting my game,” Welstad said. “I had a good finish to the day before the playoff, so I had good rhythm going, and just trusting myself and my skills.”

Welstad’s playoff victory at Fox Hills Golf Course will be one memory that Minot North coach Michael DeLorme remembers the most when reminiscing about the inaugural senior class. Not only was DeLorme impressed by how Welstad closed out the tournament, but how she was able to bounce back after a tough opening to her round.

“(The Watford City Invite is) going to be right up there,” DeLorme said. “She made a double to start the day and just kept steady throughout the day. To watch how she handled herself in that playoff, you never would have known she had any nerves on her. She stepped up and hit the shot at hand time and time again for us.”

Late-round heroics weren’t necessary when she captured her first tournament victory a week earlier at the first West Region event of the season at Cross Roads Golf Course in Carrington as part of the Turtle Mountain Invite. That’s because Welstad was already in midseason form, shooting a career-best 74 to win the event by four strokes. She parred 16 holes to best her previous top score of 76, which she set during her junior campaign.

“I really enjoyed the course and couldn’t ask for a better start to the season,” Welstad said. “It helped with the start-of-the-season nerves a bit, too.”

Welstad’s two tournament victories showcased her ability to perform well when playing different styles of golf courses, as Cross Roads – one of Welstad’s favorites along with her home course at Vardon Golf Club – and Fox Hills share few similarities between the two.

“She’s realized that she can go out and win on different types of golf courses. In Carrington, it’s a pretty open and flat golf course,” DeLorme said. “Watford City had a lot more terrain to it that she was able to overcome. Being in those positions, she’s learned she can win now and sometimes I think that’s the hardest part.”

Welstad’s golfing prowess runs in the family, with her mom playing the sport in high school as well. They would play together at the Wee Links when she was first starting out before graduating to bigger courses as her love for the game grew. Along with the relationship it strengthened with her mother, it also led to friendships with fellow golfers, like teammate Emersyn Kopp.

Before the Sentinels even had enough members on the team to score as a program in tournaments, Welstad, Kopp and fellow senior Ally Larson built a friendship around the sport that only grew as Minot North built a squad that came within a single stroke of winning the West Region tournament last year. Nearly claiming that West Region title, along with learning that they had qualified for state as a team for the first time in program history last year are some of Welstad’s favorite memories with the Sentinels.

“It started with just Emersyn and I and Ally, so not even having a full team to now where we’re consistently taking second at tournaments and trying to get that victory,” Welstad said. “It’s been awesome to see our growth and the improvements throughout the years.”

As a two-time All-West Region golfer, Welstad is far from flying under the radar, but with Kopp – an all-state selection last year and reigning West Region Tournament champion – on the roster, not all eyes were on her, something that has quickly changed. Regardless, Welstad is more than happy to share the spotlight with her friend and teammate.

“I don’t think it’s a chip on my shoulder,” Welstad said. “Emersyn’s my best friend and she’s an amazing golfer. I think our competitiveness just motivates each other to do our best and be happy for each other for each others’ successes.”

DeLorme said the improvement in Welstad’s iron play has helped lead to her success this season, getting more air under her shots and landing softer on the greens has allowed her to hit more greens in regulation, leading to lower scores. But her competitive nature has always been there and is a key reason behind her success these past four years.

“Kinzy’s a great competitor,” DeLorme said. “She’s one that even when she doesn’t have her best stuff, she’s going to work her tail off and find a way to post a good number for us. It’s just the competitive nature of who she is. She knows what to expect on the course. She understands the grind it takes to get through a full tournament day. That’s something that’s tough for high school kids. It’s hours of concentration they have to channel and takes a lot of energy to put together.”

Welstad tied for ninth at the two-day East-West Classic at Jamestown Country Club in her other event so far this year, posting the second-best score among West Region participants. For the season, Welstad has compiled 44 pars and five birdies in regulation (45 pars and six birdies when accounting for the two-hole playoff victory).

The season is far from over, which means there are still a few accomplishments Welstad would like to achieve before she closes out her high school career. Her biggest goal is one the entire team has on their bucket list: a team tournament title.

“I think all of us are really gunning for it,” Welstad said. “It would be the perfect way to end our senior year as we do have four seniors who have been with the program through it all. It would be the perfect way to end and also build momentum and get the younger girls excited for the future, too.”