It was a big day for Harrisburg boys golf on Tuesday at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell as the school claimed the state ‘AA’ team championship, and Tigers freshman, Riley Christensen, took home the individual state title.
For Riley, he shot -4 in the opening round on Monday, and then shot even par on day two to finish the tournament. But as Riley will tell you, the front nine on Tuesday was a little rough for him.
"I didn’t start off the best. I think I shot two-over, 38 on the front nine - great birdie on No. 8 to kind of mellow it out a little more than it was. But on the back nine I just felt a little more confident,” Christensen told. “I knew that I still had a same shot lead that I had going into the start of the day, so that was great, kind of started again from square one.”
With any state tournament, anticipation grows as the end grows near. For the Harrisburg freshman golfer, he tried to harness the energy from the increase in spectators.
“On 17, I saw how big the crowd was and I was like “holy crap, that’s a big crowd.” I love big crowds, I like feeding off the crowd. It makes me feel more chill,” explained Christensen. “For sure I was nervous, but it was really cool to see everyone just around the green. It was my first time ever being in the final group, so that was really cool.”
Christensen was left in the dark as far as scores on the back-nine, which was by design to an extent.
“I knew we were leading throughout the day, but I didn’t really know by how much. My coaches wouldn’t tell me,” said Christensen. “It was really nice to hear on 17 — one of my playing partners Nick Bothun (Pierre TF Riggs) told me we had an eight shot (team) lead, so I was like “ok, I just got to secure the solo lead now.””
Christensen’s four-under par performance was five strokes better than defending champ Jake Olson of Watertown, who placed second. While Riley’s performance is no doubt memorable, he also understands that the journey doesn’t stop here.
“Of course I have to put in more work. Just because I win one state tournament, it doesn’t mean I’m the favorite for next year or I’m bound to win, I still have to put in work,” Christensen stated. “I don’t like it being handed to me, and I don’t think it ever will. I’m going to have to keep working hard.”
Riley Christensen first picked up a golf club at the age of one. While his family as a whole golfs a lot, he also gave a shout out to one of his coaches.
“My golf coach Sam Vosler with Sanford Golf, he kind of started me on this journey, and I want to give a big thanks to him, because without him, I couldn’t have done this at all,” said Riley.
As a freshman, Christensen’s high school golf career has plenty of rounds left to go. But he also has his sights set on what his future after high school might hold.
“I kind of told myself that with how many hours I put into this game, it wouldn’t really be complete without playing college golf,” exclaimed Christensen. “For sure this state tournament helps a lot. The dream is Oklahoma State. They’ve been the number one golf school for a long time. So that’s the dream, but anything DI in general would be such a great accomplishment.”
Tea Area junior Keeton Newborg also won a state golf title on Tuesday, at the Class A tournament in Aberdeen. That’s two individual state champions, who are separated by just a few miles.
“I actually know Keeton personally. We play a lot of summer golf together,” told Christensen. “I congratulated him earlier and he congratulated me too, so that was nice.”
For full results of both the 2022 'AA' and 'A' boys state golf tournaments, click here.
