BRANDON — Watertown High School’s girls golf team closed out its season by winning the eight-team Brandon Valley Invitational on Tuesday at the Brandon Municipal Golf Course.
The tourney did not follow the traditional format. It featured two-person pairings per school with each duo playing six holes scramble, six holes best ball and six holes alternate shot.
“Today was a good confidence boost as we head into the state tournament next week,” said Watertown head coach Tommy Mattingly. “It’s a unique format, but the girls took advantage of the opportunity to partner with a teammate and compete. As a coach, I enjoyed the setup of the tournament as each of our golfers learned a skill or approach from their partner based on how we created our pairings.”
Watertown’s Riley Zebroski and Gabi Olson won the tournament with a 77. Aspen Reynolds and Avery Palmquist of Watertown finished second with a 79.
Sisters Shelby and Natalie Pearson ended up fourth with an 82.
The Arrows will play Monday and Tuesday in the state Class AA tournament at the Hillsview Golf Course in Pierre.
“We have a couple of days of practice to fine tune our golf game before traveling to Pierre,” said Mattingly. “The girls have worked extremely hard this year and they believe they are capable of accomplishing our team goals we set at the start of the season.”
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown girls get ready for state by winning Brandon Valley Invite