Tuesday was a bit of a perfect scenario for the Dakota Valley boys golf program as senior Logan Collette won the individual state championship, and then the Panthers team won the team state title as well. The ‘A’ boys state tournament took place at Central Valley golf course in Hartford.
Collette shot five-over-par for the two-day event. He finished Monday at three-over-par, tied for the lead with Jonathan DeBoer of Milbank. On Tuesday, Collette shot two-over-par, which was good enough to give him a one-stroke victory.
“Coming into [Tuesday], tied up with a lot of great players, and even the ones who were a couple strokes behind, I knew they could have a great day and go low,” said Collette. “I just had to play my game, stay focused, and it worked out really well for me in the end.”
Carson Steffensen of Canton, who finished day two in second at six-over-par, was in the group ahead of Collette in the final round. This gave Collette an idea of what he needed to do on the eighteenth hole to secure the win.
“I did ask my coach. I usually don’t do that, but in this case I did, so I kind of knew where I stood and knew what I needed to do,” explained Collette. “It was a very long walk, but I hit a great drive, knew I had to hit the green and two putt, and that’s what I did.”
Logan Collette of Dakota Valley pars 18, and with a two day score of +5, he’s your 2024 ‘A’ boys state golf champion.
— Nate Wek (@Nate_WekSDPB) October 8, 2024
Carson Steffensen of Canton finished in second with +6, and Jonathan DeBoer of Milbank and Vincent Vanliere of STM tied for third with +7. #SDPreps #SDGolf24 pic.twitter.com/7hFA0fdnGp
Along with celebrating an individual accolade, Collette also got to celebrate the team state title with his teammates. As a unit, Dakota Valley finished combined +39 for the tournament – fourteen strokes better than second place Vermillion, who scored +53 as a team.
“It means so much,” Collette exclaimed. These guy’s have worked their butts off all year long. Our three seniors, just all the work we’ve put in over these four years have led up to this, and it just feels amazing.”
Dakota Valley head coach Rodd Slater is proud of the way his kids played. Along with Collette finishing first, Matt DeBeer placed fifth with nine-over-par, Dylan Lukken tied in the twelve spot with twelve-over-par, Tate Cornelson tied for sixteenth with sixteen-over-par, and Tyler Cornelson tied for twenty-fifth with nineteen-over-par. All Dakota Valley players finished in the Top-25.
“It was a dream season, and really it’s been a dream three years. The kids have gotten better. We played really well last year, but came up short. Finished almost a disappointing third, but we played well. This year, I’m a little at a loss of words,” stated coach Slater. “The relationship we’ve built over the past three years was bigger thing than winning. What we’ve done together is bigger than one tournament. But we prepared, they executed, and they played unbelievable, and I’m so proud of them.”
Coach Slater also gave props to the Vermillion team and coach Kirk Hogen, who came into the state tournament as the two-time defending champs.
“[Vermillion] beat us by 25 shots at regions, and they finished second here. They’ve got great coaches and great kids too,” Slater said. “Their youth program, our youth program, they kind of grew together. Coach Hogen and those guys, hats off to them, they’re fantastic champions, and it’s just fun to play with those guys.”
As for Dakota Valley’s celebration plans, they had their post-tournament itinerary set.
“We’ve made a deal where every time we win, we eat Slim Chickens, so evidently we’re eating at Slim Chickens here tonight,” chuckled Slater. “So, we’ll probably bring that trophy with us. I don’t know what sauce we’re going to have, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re going to really really enjoy this and they deserve it so much. I’m just really grateful.”
Dakota Valley has three seniors on this year’s varsity squad – Logan Collette, Tyler Cornelsen, and Dylan Lukken.
