Behind a young core of talented players, Century has dominated the last few years of West Region girls golf.
With a core foursome of seniors returning from last year’s team, Century is looking to once again lead the way, led this year by new co-coaches Preston Brown and Tyce Halter.
“I love to be a part of the Patriot program, so to get a chance to coach the girls is an added bonus,” said Brown, who also coaches the boys team at Century. “They’re fun to work with and it’s been a treat to work with them and I can’t wait to see what the season brings with how experienced our team is.”
The quiet challenger to Century’s dominance is the lone squad to finish within 20 strokes of the Patriots at the West Region and state tournaments: Mandan.
“The year before last, we broke through and bumped up to third in state, which gave us confidence going into last year,” Mandan coach Dean Johs said. “Last year we started slow, then things started gelling and we started rising to the top, and we almost caught Century at the West Region tournament last year, which has given us something to strive for.”
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Century gets one more year with the Herbel sisters — Hannah and Leah — at the top of its lineup. Hannah won state championships in 2018, 2019 and 2020 before finishing second last season in a playoff.
The Patriots also return seniors Regan Braun and Aliyah Iverson.
“Our lineup is skilled and experienced, but Tyce and myself hope to bring something extra to the table to get them over the hump,” Brown said. “We have our four seniors with varsity experience, and we’ll be leaning on them to lead the younger girls.”
While the top four are pretty much solidified for the Patriots, they still have depth. Brown mentioned junior Kambree Hauglie as a player to watch this season and next.
Brown and Halter will be working with Century’s younger players closely to ensure that the Patriots don’t take a step back when the graduating players leave.
“We shouldn’t need to worry about (the seniors) too much,” Brown said. “That will allow us coaches to walk along with the younger girls that need a little more guidance and talk through course strategy with them. We can let the seniors go and bring the other girls along and give them an idea of what it takes to be successful for 18 straight holes.
“We’ve noticed a few juniors and sophomores who have good potential with their game and with a little work, they can really come along over the next two-and-a-half months to get where they need to be not just for this year, but next year and the year after that.”
As for the Braves, their lineup leads off with Anna Huettl, reigning West Region medalist and fifth-place finisher at state.
With Aysia Mettler lost from last year’s lineup, Huettl will be the rock atop Mandan’s lineup.
“Aysia was a two-time all-conference player, but we’re hoping to replace her with her younger sister Brittlyn,” Johs said. “Anna had a phenomenal year last year and her game is really sharp right now and we’re hoping she can carry us with strong play from our No. 2-6 spots behind her.”
Although his team was the closest to toppling Century from their postseason perch, Johs believes that there’s another team in the West Region that might challenge the Patriots and Braves this year.
“Another strong team I’d put ahead of us until we can prove we’ve replaced (Aysia’s) score from last year is Legacy,” he said. “They had a lot of girls shooting in the 80s last year, and they have a good number of seniors this year. It should be tight this year, the margin between us, Century and maybe Legacy shouldn’t be as wide as it has been in years past.”
The season starts today at Fox Hills Golf & Country Club with the Watford City Invite, hosting a West Region tournament for the first time.
“Our JV team played (Fox Hills) last year,” Johs said. “It’s a long course, length-wise it’s like Links up in Williston, but the problem is how long you have to walk. The course winds through some housing developments so there are times where it’s a quarter-mile between greens and the next tee box, so we’ll be making sure the girls stay hydrated.”
Century’s individual talent could mean good results, but until the team, Brown and Halter can adjust to each other, they’re going to be focusing on their individual play.
“We have a short amount of time to get ready for (the Watford City Invite),” Brown said. “We’re working on ourselves as individuals so we’re not focusing as much on results. I’m hoping to get the girls on the same page as far as how I coach, how they can minimize mistakes, and that can take some time.
“We want to work on things like coming back from bad holes, talking with players about their mistakes, and where they can drop a few strokes in the future.”
The Watford City Invite is followed quickly by the East-West Invite.
“The East-West tournament in Jamestown next Monday and Tuesday is a big one to look forward to,” Brown said. “We’re going in hoping to play our best golf, get an idea of which other teams played their best golf, and what was the difference between winning and losing the tournament.
“We have high expectations of ourselves, so over the first few weeks, we’ll make adjustments so we can get to where we want to go.”
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