Brainerd girl golfers take 2nd

The Dairy Queen in Royalton will be visited by six happy Brainerd Warrior girls' golfers Thursday.

All six broke 100 at a Central Lakes Conference meet at Pine Meadows Golf Course in Brainerd Monday, causing Warriors head coach Jean Martin to ante up on a wager.

Brainerd finished second with a season-best 355. Alexandria won the meet with a 324 to increase its conference lead to 7.5 points. Little Falls finished third with a 379 and was led by Kayla Kluver's 91.

Martin's bet was made a few meets ago, but she rolled it over until now.

Kate Bjornson turned in her card first with a 94. Then Megan Owens turned in her team-low 86.

Emily Dunphy's 87 found its way to the clubhouse, then Sarah Christensen popped in with her season-best 88. Jenny Olson followed with a 95.

That left Nikki Bender, the lone Warrior out on the course, needing only a 99. The junior finished with 48 on the front nine and 51 on the back for a 99 and an ice cream treat.

"One meet a couple of weeks ago I told them if they all break 100 I would treat them to a Dairy Queen," said Martin. "It was kind of an incentive for them to play for."

Owens' 86 was her season low and only two strokes away from her career best of 84.

"My first nine was really good, actually," said Owens. "My drives were always right down the middle. My second shots were really close to the green if not on and, if they weren't on, my chipping was within a foot so I was able to par easily.

"I was only four over on the front, which was a 40."

Owens needed just 30 putts to finish her round.

The Warrior shot 46 on the back to come in seventh individually. Dunphy was eighth and Christensen's 88 placed her in a tie for ninth.

The 94 by Bjornson was the fourth score for Brainerd, but all six were within 13 strokes, a characteristic similar to Brainerd's state championship team of 1999.

"I don't think they think about it," Martin said about comparing the teams. "I think its just something that's out there. They're just playing their game. Each one is working on lowering their scores and this is the time to do it."

Brainerd shot a 346 in the first round of the 1999 Class 2A state tournament. On Monday, Brainerd was nine strokes from that total. The four scores that counted at Bunker Hills were two 85s, an 86 and a 90.

"I think the similarities with these two teams is that we're six deep," said Martin. "You can count on everyone."

For one Warrior having to play in a sister's shadow there is a constant reminder of the pressure to repeat.

"I think there's a lot of pressure because my sister (Claire) was on that team," said Owens. "She's always saying, 'Live up to it.'

"We've been dropping our team total consistently. There's always that thought in the back of my mind, that it would be just so incredibly awesome just to go out there and repeat (what the 1999 team did)."

Team scores -- 1-Alexandria 324, 2-Brainerd 355, 3-Little Falls 379, 4-St. Cloud Tech 387, 5-Sartell 401, 6-Sauk Rapids 410, 7-Willmar 418, Rocori inc. St. Cloud Apollo inc.

Individual medalist -- Samantha Sommers (Apollo) 77

Brainerd results -- Megan Owens 86, Emily Dunphy 87, Sarah Christensen 88, Kate Bjornson 94, Jenny Olson 95, Nikki Bender 99

Little Falls results -- Kayla Kluver 91, Paige Johnson 93, Ashley Messerschmidt 95, Sarah Herold 100, Katie Faufau 109, Laura Herzog 118

Conference standings -- 1-Alexandria 54, 2-Brainerd 46.5, 3-Little Falls 42, 4-St. Cloud Tech 31, 5-Sartell 32.5, 6-Willmar 23, 7-Sauk Rapids 15,

Next meet -- Brainerd, LF in CLC meet at Sartell, 4:30 p.m. Thursday.