Making it to the Minnesota State High School League State Golf Tournament is a difficult task on its own and for the 2024 season, Hastings had one state qualifier, Jon Harris. The two-day tournament took place at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids. Harris finished round one with a seven over par 79, and day two with a four over par 76 for a total of 155. Torger Ohe of Edina took first place with a nine under 135.
The conditions on day one started out very unfavorable for the early starters. At the 7:30 tee time, the rain was coming down fairly hard, and this was Harris’ tee time. It is really tough to change an entire day’s schedule due to 20 minutes of rain that occurs past the start of the day, especially when there are tee times scheduled all day. Unfortunately, the wet weather did mess with Harris’ scores for the first two holes.
Harris started on the back nine. Hole 10 he shot a two over par six and on hole 11 he shot a three over par eight. The rest of the day, he played very even and confident golf, dancing around the par line all day. Day two Harris never shot worse than a bogey and had a couple birdies mixed in with his mostly par scorecard.
The first round, which was definitely the wetter round of the two, took only four hours and 26 minutes to complete. Round two was just over half an hour longer. To show just how close the scores were, had Harris been only five strokes better, he would have been in the top 20. Having two rounds at par would have been sixth place. 36 out of 88 golfers is a great finish to the season. Jon Harris is the 36th best golfer for high school in the State of Minnesota. That is something to be proud of. Congratulations Jon!