Tim Knutson

The men’s fall golf season came to an end Oct. 25 with the completion of the Oral Roberts Invitational, in which the Jacks placed seventh.

Trent Peterson led the Jacks and shot a career low of 72 during the competition. SDSU shot a team total of 927.

SDSU’s men’s team played in a total of five tournaments in their fall season. They placed as high as seventh.

The team did not place as highly as they would have liked through the season, but they did put up some low scores.

“We are looking forward to the spring season, because we had a lot of young guys get some much needed experience,” said Head Golf Coach Jared Baszler

Team standouts this season were Steve Klock, a junior from Sioux Falls, and Peterson, a freshman from Eagan, Minn.

“We didn’t finish where we wanted, but we did have some bright points. We have a lot of young guys and this will be a good starting point to build on,” Klock said.

Klock talked about his second year as a Division-I golfer, and the challenges he has faced while making the jump from Division II.

“The competition is unbelievable. The tournaments that we play in now are some of the best in the country, and are run much better then they were at the D-II level,” Klock said.

He added the courses offer a more challenging level of play.

Women

The South Dakota State women’s golf team finished their fall season by finishing fourth at the Kenneth Smith Classic held in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 17 and 18. Kelly Evans finished fourth, posting a total score of 153.

The Lady Jacks’ highest team score was the same as their lowest team score from a year ago, and their season best was 25 strokes lower than last year.

“We kept getting better as the season went on, and we hope to be able to carry that through the spring season and into the Independent National Championship,” said coach Baszler.

Kelly Evans, in her senior season at State, is coming to the end of a strong career for the Jacks.

“The fall season went really well. Our team scores really improved. It was really fun because we were competitive and beating other schools,” Evans said.

The team has a chance for some post-season play with the Independent National Championship.

“We will be going on a spring break trip that should be a lot of fun, but we are going to get the chance to play in the Independent National Tournament, which will be really exciting,” Evans said

As the Lady Jacks keep improving, so do their scores. They are looking solid from the top to the bottom. This spring will give these young women a chance to show off what they really can do.