LONG PRAIRIE — In Jenny Muesing’s three previous years as a varsity golfer for the Brainerd Warriors, she didn’t qualify for state.
The sophomore finally attained her goal Tuesday as she finished fourth in the Section 8-3A tournament and qualified for state.
In 2011, she missed qualifying for state by four strokes.
“I’ve been wanting this so bad the last three years,” Muesing said. “I always missed it by a little so to finally make it is nice. I worked really hard this year. It means a lot.”
Muesing followed Monday’s first-round 83 with an 86 Tuesday to finish with a 169.
“I wasn’t hitting the ball how I wanted to,” Muesing said of Tuesday’s round, “but I kept the ball in play, kept my head together, and I pulled it all together in the end.
“My wedges were working pretty well. Today, they saved me a lot.”
Alexandria won the section team championship. Muesing was one of five individuals not on the championship team who advanced.
“I was really impressed with her round today,” Warriors coach Brian Stark said. “She played very steady. I could tell she was playing rather safe today — she played really well (Monday) — which was smart on her part. She knew what she had to do and went out and did it. She had a few bad shots but she didn’t let it get to her.
“One thing I’ve been very impressed with this year is her mental game. She was focused and did not get frazzled. I saw a lot of maturity there.”
Team scores: 1-Alexandria 341-345-686, 2-St. Cloud Tech 341-352-693, 3-St. Cloud Apollo 359-354-713, 4-Buffalo 367-363-730
Individual state qualifiers: 1-Bobbie Bohlig (Tech) 82-82-164, 2-Lexi Bollant (Buffalo) 81-85-166, 3-Meagan Larkin (Tech) 82-86-168, 4-Jenny Muesing 83-86-169, 5-Nikki Torgerson (Apollo) 84-87-171
Next: Muesing in Class 3A state tournament at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids June 12-13.
