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Two USC girls and one boy golfer will play in the state golf tournament next week.

Coach Brad Heggen gave an update of the section tournament this week:

The USC girls team nearly made it to Day 2 of the section tournament, as a team, missing it by just seven strokes.

“That is quite remarkable, given three of the four golfers are new to the team this year,” said coach Brad Heggen. “In fact, two of (the) golfers literally hadn’t ever swung a club until three months ago.”

Although the USC girls didn’t qualify for Day 2 as a team, Senior Paige Roberts and sophomore Emma Heggen did qualify for Day 2 as individuals.

Heggen shot 105 on Day 1 and 100 on Day 2, for a tournament total of 205 — good enough for a third-place finish, which qualified her for the 2023 Class A State Golf Tournament to be held at Pebble Creek Golf Course, in Becker on June 13-14. This will be her first appearance in the state tournament.

Roberts shot 122 on Day 1 and 122 on Day 2. Her tournament total was 244, and she finished 18th overall.

The boys team started slowly on Day 1 but worked their way into fourth place as a team to qualify for Day 2.

After shooting 350 on Day 1, the USC boys were 13 strokes out of first at the start of Day 2. They played better on Day 2, but were unable to overcome the 13-stroke deficit. In the end, the USC boys improved their finish — into third place — behind JWP and New Ulm Cathedral.

With a seventh-place finish, USC Junior Kadyn Neubauer qualified as an individual for the boys state tournament. This will be his third appearance in the state tournament — as an individual in 2021, with the USC team in 2022 and as an individual again this year.