Olivia Sorlie, Blue Jay golf team preparing for final tournament
Sep. 30—JAMESTOWN — Olivia Sorlie had two goals for the 2023 prep golf season.
"My goals for the season were to shoot a lower round average than last year and qualify individually for State," Sorlie, a senior at Jamestown High School said.
Fortunately, both were accomplished.
"Our team has performed pretty well this season," Sorlie said. "We have been in the middle of the leaderboard in almost every tournament, so I had a good feeling when it came to qualifying at the WDA meet."
The 2023 WDA Meet was held at Tom O'Leary Golf Course in Bismarck on Sept. 25. Sorlie had already qualified for the 2023 State Meet individually, shooting an 87 at the Mandan Invite on Sept. 19.
"I felt pretty confident and relaxed when WDA came," Sorlie said. "Since I had already qualified for State there were no nerves.
"The day started off pretty well," she said. "I had a good start at the range and it transferred over to the course. I had a couple of rough holes, but everyone did, so I wasn't too worried. I had shot well at Tom O'Leary during the regular season, and I just wanted to repeat that."
Sorlie actually bettered her performance at Tom O'. The senior shot the best round of her season — an 86 — to lead the Blue Jays at WDAs.
"I was one of the first people to finish on the team so I just kept refreshing the scoring app and looking at the leaderboard," Sorlie said. "I had a good feeling about the team qualifying because we have been consistently in the middle of the pack throughout the season. Sometimes I would look on the golf scoring app to see how my team was doing and where we were placed."
Belle Sjostrom was the Blue Jays No. 2 at WDAs with a 93 while Isabel LeFevre finished with a 96. It was Mylee Michel who rounded out the Jays' top-four scorers. Michel shot a 99 to give the Jays a team score of 374 — one stroke better than Minot North.
"After we realized we had placed sixth we were very excited to make it for the second year in a row," Sorlie said.
The 2023 Class A State Golf Meet is scheduled to be held Oct. 2-3 at Grand Forks Country Club. Sorlie said the Jays will be practicing on the things the team has struggled with the most during the season, whether it's the short game or hitting on the range.
"Our team is just hoping to play their best next week," Sorlie said. "We are not expected to win, so we are just going to have fun. Having fun is a part of being able to be relaxed and play our best. I think it will be a successful state tournament for the girls individually and as a team."
