Paa earns bid to state tournament

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- For the second straight year, New Ulm High's Amanda Paa had another great showing in the Section 2-2A girls golf tournament at Willmar Country Club.

Paa qualified for the Class 2A tournament, which will be June 4-5 at Bunker Hills Country Club in Coon Rapids.

The Eagles' senior shot nines of 41 and 38 for a 6-over 79 to finish second, three strokes behind Mankato West's Jessie Shin, who captured first with nines of 38 and 38.

"I hit the ball really well -- I had one bad hole with a triple-bogey on the third hole," Paa said. "But after that, I played solid. I was 3-over after that."

Paa, who also finished second at last year's Section 2-2A tournament, felt that the best part of her game was her driving. "I hit 12 of 15 fairways -- I drove the ball extremely well. I put myself in good places to make pars and that is what I did all day long."

She said that the conditions of Willmar Country Club "made it tough. The greens were slow and they had just top-dressed them and they were very grainy. The fairways were in rough shape -- they had a lot of winter kill. That made it tough -- the front side was a lot tougher than the back (side). There is a lot of water on the front and a lot of doglegs, which made it tough."

Paa said that she had "30 putts -- that was good -- I made all my four-footers, which made a lot of difference for me. It was tough to make a lot of putts because of the condition of the greens. So I just tried to get it in close each time I putted. And I tried to drive the ball into a specific area because a lot of the driving holes were just placement shots. That is how I changed my game."

Paa said that she had faced Shin before. "We are about even. The time that I played against her in Mankato, I won. And the time before, she won. She is a good golfer," Paa said.

"Today, I felt the most confident that I have all year," she added. "I really trusted my swing and it felt good."

Fairmont won the team title with a 350, one stroke better than Waconia. New Ulm High tied with Hutchinson for fourth place with 380. West finished third.

Shelly Stueber shot a 43 on the front nine and came in with a 46 for an 89 as the Eagles' second scorer. Randi Wise posted a 105, shooting nines of 53 and 52.

Jenni Anderson recorded a 107 to round the Eagles' scoring players. Rachel Dummer shot a 113 and Meghan Bode a 122 for New Ulm High.

Brittney Willborg of Waconia also shot a 79, tieing with Paa. Emily Vankirk and Britt Tepley each qualified for the State Tournament as well.