Persson, Skiers again peaking as AHS girls golf heads to state championship
AHS girls golf competes Monday, Tuesday in Loveland
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
After a midseason “rough patch” — her words, not ones the rest of us would associate with her steady play — Lenna Persson has her swing dialed in with the Class 3A girls state golf championships coming up Monday and Tuesday in Loveland.
The Aspen High School junior is fresh off her third straight individual regional title and hopes to have the Skiers in contention for even more this week at the Olde Course.
“Once I really dialed in on my short game, it made all the difference,” Persson said Friday from Aspen Golf Club, before the team headed to Loveland for one final practice round on Sunday. “The biggest thing was putting. I was playing good at the beginning of the season and then I had a little bit of a rough patch, and that’s because I couldn’t putt to save my life. Since then that’s all I’ve worked on.”
At the regional tournament on Tuesday, May 14, in Alamosa, it all came together for Persson at Cattails Golf Club. She played her best competitive round as a high school golfer, shooting 1-under-par 71 to win the tournament by 11 strokes over senior teammate Brooke O’Sullivan. Persson had four birdies over a six-hole stretch on the front nine — three of those birdies coming on par 5s — that kickstarted her dominant performance.
“I feel really good. It was so exciting to win regionals again,” said Persson, who also won the individual regional championship as both a freshman and sophomore. “I feel really excited. I know there is more tough competition at states. There are probably going to be one or two girls that might shoot under par. I need to go in trusting my game, but I’m real excited about how I’m playing right now.”
Aspen is expected to contend for hardware this week in Loveland. Last spring, the Skiers had the rare opportunity to host the 3A championship at Aspen Golf Club and finished tied for second as a team, a program best. Persson was fourth at state a year ago, shooting 164 (79-85) over two rounds on her home course. O’Sullivan was sixth with 169 (84-85).
In Aspen’s way is powerhouse St. Mary’s Academy, which has won the past three 3A championships. They shot a collective 521 last spring in Aspen to beat runner-ups AHS and Peak to Peak by 11 strokes.
St. Mary’s is led by senior Maddy Bante, who is going for her third straight individual title. She shot 143 (74-69) at Aspen Golf Club last spring to win by 11 strokes over Peak to Peak’s Noelle Thompson, who has since graduated. Salida’s Kyndra Johnson, then only a sophomore, was third with 163 (80-83), one stroke ahead of Persson. Johnson is again in the state field this spring.
The Skiers will have experience on their side this week in Loveland, as their state foursome is the same group that played together in Aspen a year ago. This is a third trip to state for Persson, junior Audrey Woodrow and O’Sullivan — the lone senior who missed her sophomore season due to a knee injury — and the second for junior Madison Nelson.
“I’m so proud of everyone. Everyone has made such great improvement,” Persson said. “We have four players that have the potential to be under 100, which a lot of teams don’t have. And we also have two players with the potential to shoot in the 70s, which most teams don’t have either. I feel really confident in all of our games and I’m just really proud of the work all of us have made and put in this season.”
Key to the Skiers finding success in the team standings is getting a strong, third score to go with Persson and O’Sullivan. Last season that task belonged almost exclusively to Woodrow, who tied for 30th at state in Aspen, shooting rounds of 100 and 99. This season, Nelson has stepped up and is just as likely to provide that third score as is Woodrow. The fourth score doesn’t count toward a team’s total.
“The pressure was a bit more last year because it was a bit more on me to bring in the third score, which was kind of scary,” Woodrow said. “But now we’ve all grown as players and Madison and I have both improved so much this year and that has alleviated a lot of the pressure because there are two of us now.”
The first round of this year’s 3A state tournament begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday in Loveland. Bante is in that first group teeing off from the first hole.
Persson is scheduled to tee off at 9:05 a.m. from the 10th hole, playing alongside Rye’s Emma Garcia and Berthoud’s Brooklyn Tychsen. O’Sullivan will follow a group later, teeing off at 9:15 a.m. from the 10th hole alongside Rye’s Olivia Donlon and Berthoud’s Rosie Hirai.
Nelson will tee off at 9:25 a.m. and Woodrow at 9:35 a.m., both from the 10th hole.
Tuesday’s final-round pairings are based off Monday’s results, with the top golfers being grouped together and teeing off last from the first hole.
“It’s more so how we do as a team and whether I’m that third or fourth person, I don’t really care. But I want that third score to be good, no matter where it comes from,” Woodrow said. “I’m pretty excited. I feel like the season has gone by pretty quick, especially because of the weather. We go from zero to 100 so fast. But I think we’ve all prepared for this and have been preparing since last season. And I think we are ready to kick some butt in Loveland, Colorado.”
Persson, Skiers again peaking as AHS girls golf heads to state championship
After a midseason “rough patch” — her words, not ones the rest of us would associate with her steady play — Lenna Persson has her swing dialed in with the 3A state golf championships coming up Monday and Tuesday in Loveland.
