GGF golf preview: Grand Forks Red River's rebuild appears poised to challenge for state title

GRAND FORKS – There are some dedicated golfers in this year’s group for Grand Forks Red River.

While the popular track for most is to transition each school year from tennis to hockey to golf, multiple players with the Roughriders have focused solely on golf.

While there is only one senior on the roster, these young golfers are serious about ending West Fargo Sheyenne’s dominance on North Dakota links and have shown to head coach Nathan Olson that they have the game and maturity to do so.

“It’s their thing, they live and breathe it. It is a little bit of an anomaly being a one-sport golfer. There are not a lot of those out there,” Olson said.

This has led to some younger golfers seeming not so young, which is the headspace to have in such an emotional game. Knowing how to play these windier, spaced-out local courses can take the most discipline at times.

“The more you can get to know yourself, you get to know how you handle adversity,” Olson said. “Knowing where to miss and how to handle the flight of your ball, there are advantages there.”

The Riders were the East Region champions last season, but after the top three scorers graduated they are now entering a new era. Aside from senior Ross Koerner, sophomores Silas Dusenbury and Ross Korener with freshman Stetsen Brown are leading this youth movement.

While Dusenbury is young, he is still experienced in varsity golf. He missed six of the first seven tournaments last year as a freshman but in the final three tournaments, he averaged 75 and just opened this season at the Sheyenne Invite with a 75.

That consistent performance lengthened out over a season would have earned him an all-conference spot last year.

“He’s gotten a little bit bigger and stronger,” Olson said. “He hit it a long way before, but now he hits it really long. The maturity from playing those four or five meets last year gets the butterflies out of your stomach.”

Growing in popularity with younger golfers is the more analytical thinking behind golf and the numbers that go behind a swing and flight as more content creators talk more about it. Dusenbury is one of those analytical thinkers.

“He’s a deep thinker and a really strong math and science student. He’s always paying attention to slight adjustments and his clubs ... whether he is changing lofts or shafts,” Olson said.

Another golfer showing signs of maturity as far back as last season is Kolby Koerner. Also a sophomore, Koerner has managed to take the positives out of any situation he has been in. Even if that situation is one of the worst imaginable scores one could write on a competitive scorecard.

“We were at a tournament and he had just made birdie and then he took a 10, like a quintuple bogey, and so all the sudden I looked at the digital scoreboard and saw he had dropped like massively and saw he shot a 10.

"Normally when a kid makes a 10 they are beside themselves. So I went out there to make sure he was alright and he was just like ‘Oh yeah, I’m alright! I just have to birdie one of the last two holes and I’ll shoot 79.’ And then he did. And that was him as a freshman,” Olson said.

Like Dusenbury, he is a golfer who came into his own toward the end of last year. He averaged 76 in the matches he did get into. Both Dusenbury and Koerner were All-Region golfers in 2023 when Red River as a team broke 300 at Oxbow with a 296.

Next to Koerner is brother and senior Ross. Both have commonalities but their differences are easy to spot.

“Ross is pretty serious and Kolby is so laid back, but they are both really good students and mature. You wouldn’t see them walking up and be able to notice they were brothers,” Olson.

In preparation for the year, some Roughriders made their way to some adult tournaments and made their presence known. Kolby Koerner walked away as the King’s Walk Champion going five-under in 27.

These younger golfers have also added length and are looking forward to tackling the year head-on.

“You see that jump too along with the physical maturity. You learn a lot from playing with adults that are good players and that’s one of the best ways to get better,” Olson said.

Coach: Nathan Olson.

2023 finish: East Region champion, state runner-up.

Seniors: Ross Koerner (20th at state).

Key returners: Soph. Silas Dusenbury (20th at state), soph. Kolby Koerner (seventh at state), jr. Carter Olson (13th at state).

Coach Olson says: “I’m confident we are going to still be strong. A lot of the guys we are returning play a lot of summer golf and tournaments. Despite losing some core guys, those younger guys will fill in those spots and develop.”

Coach: Alex Barta.

2023 finish: Didn't qualify for state team totals.

Seniors: Evan Panzer (29th at state), Trevor Anderson, Jonah Ohnstad, Dylin Harildstad.

Key returners: Jr. Cole Wilber (29th at state), fr. Ryder Rivard.

Coach: Kyle Thompson.

2023 finish: Fourth at Section 8AA.

Seniors: Zach Cariveau, Caleb Johnson

Key returners: Soph. Gavin Rude (seventh at Section 8AA); soph. Micah Ellis (11th at Section 8AA); jr. Keegan Stromme (18th at Section 8AA); jr. Nick Corbett (19th at Section 8AA); soph. Brody Johnson.

Coach Thompson says: “We’ve had a focus of improving the mental side of the game, and we have shown some big improvement. We have our entire varsity team returning including Gavin Rude and Brody Johnson who will pace us this year.”

Coach: Paula Devine.

2023 finish: Fifth at Section 8AA.

Seniors: Kayla Thompson (fifth at Section 8AA).

Key returners: Jr. Jillian Frost (13th at Section 8AA), soph. Braylee Rasmussen.

Coach Devine says: “It has been really helpful to have Thompson and Frost to have them mentor these newcomers. There are some questions we will have to answer here but to have two great returners like those two will be helpful.”