MCGREGOR- North Woods golfer Tori Olson nailed down her fifth trip to the state Class A championship tournament on Wednesday, May 29 by finishing second in the two-day 7A sectional tournament at the Minnesota National Golf Course in McGregor.
The 18-hole, par-72 championship course, designed by former PGA pro and Minnesota golf legend Joel Goldstrand, presented the field with a stiff challenge. On the first day of the tourney. Olson shot a 45 on the front and a 44 on the back for a round of 89. She ranked third, seven strokes behind leader Kianna Johnson of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley and two behind NER-Ely’s Abby Koivisto.
But the senior North Woods ace upped her game on Wednesday, shaving six strokes off her first-day score as Koivisto faltered to a 99 and fell to fourth. Olson picked up four strokes on Johnson, but it wasn’t enough to wrest the top spot away from her.
Olson’s first trip to state came as a seventh grader, and except for 2020 when the tourney was canceled due to COVID, she’s been back every year since. This year’s Class A state tournament will take place at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker on June 11-12.
ERC Championship
For the second tournament in a row, Olson and Kelby Anderson of International Falls finished tied on top of the leaderboard with identical scores, but this time the championship went to Anderson on a tiebreaker.
Olson scored a critical birdie on the par-five16th hole to draw even with Anderson, and both tallied 18-hole scores of 86 for the meet at Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Coleraine.
Olson was the only North Woods golfer entered in the May 23 event.