VanArragon & McCauleys Are 1-2-3 in Girls AAA; Defending Champ Alexandria Leading Team Competition

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COON RAPIDS -- The last three individual champions are lined up in chronological  order after they put on a spectacular show -- 18 birdies and an eagle among them -- during the first day of Class AAA girls competition at the Minnesota state high school tournament. 

Kathryn VanArragon, who is now a junior at Blaine, won when she was a seventh-grader, in 2018. On Tuesday, she lit up Bunker Hills GC with eight birdies on her way to a tournament-record score of 7-under 65, and she leads by two over the 2019 champ, Bella McCauley, who made six birdies on her way to a 67. 

Bella's younger sister Reese McCauley is another shot back after a 68.

That 67 by Bella, it should be noted, was the same score she opened with three years ago, when she tied the tournament scoring record with her 36-hole total of 135 -- and won by 10 strokes. VanArragon finished fourth that year, and Bella's younger sister Reese McCauley was fifth.

There was no high school tournament in 2020, yet another victim of the Covid 19 pandemic.

It was Reese's turn last year. She, like her sister, was a ninth-grader playing for Simley (even though the McCauley's are home-schooled) when she won. Reese came from one behind with three holes to go, closed with a 69, and finished one ahead of Roseville's Olivia Salonek, 139 to 140. Bella didn't get a chance to defend her title in 2021 for a strange reason. She was playing in the U.S. Women's Open during the week that sectional qualifying was taking place, and the Minnesota State High School League doesn't give defending champions exemptions. VanArragon tied for fourth. 

On Wednesday, VanArragon and Bella McCauley will tee off at 12:36 p.m. in the last foursome of individuals whose teams did not make the state tournament. (Girls playing with there teams will follow them.) VanArragon and Bella will be playing with Detroit Lakes senior McKenna Mallow, who is alone in fourth place with a 70, and Benilde-St. Margaret's Clara Halvorson, who is tied for fifth at 75. 

Reese would be in that foursome with her sister, except that teammates can't play together at the state tournament. (Sisters could, if they played for different teams.)

VanArragon conceded on Tuesday that her victory from four years ago seems like a very long time ago. Her game has changed, not only in the scores she's shooting -- she won with a 70-73--143 four years ago -- but also in the distances that she hits the ball.

"I didn't hit my driver much farther than 200 yards then," she said of her game in 2018. "My distance is probably more like 240 now."

The added power helped her play Bunker Hills' four par-5's in 3 under. But she got her first birdie at the par-3 third (No. 3 East), where she hit her tee shot to 3 feet. She and the two McCauleys all birdied the 446-yard, par-5 fourth, and VanArragon made her third birdie of the front nine at the other par-3, the seventh hole, with a 9-iron to 15 feet. 

It is a measure of the quality -- and increased power -- of Minnesota girls golf in 2022 that three of the girls in one foursome -- VanArragon, Bella McCauley and Chanhassen senior Madi Hicks -- all hit the green at the 430-yard, par-5 11th hole (No. 2 West) in two. That was the first of VanArragon's four birdies on the back nine. Hicks played well enough to be right around par, but she missed a couple of short putts on the back nine and is in the three-way tie for fifth at 75.

VanArragon, who has committed to be in the freshman class at the University of St. Thomas in 2023, made another birdie at the par-4 13th hole, and hit a 5-wood a few yards short of the green at the par-5 14th, then chipped close for her third birdie in a row.

She said afterward that one of the keys to her round on Tuesday was her ability to judge the speed of the greens -- except for one time. That was at the 368-yard, par-4 15th hole, where her 25-foot birdie putt slam dunked off the back of the cup -- and in.

At the 400-yard, par-4 16th, she yanked her tee shot left, hit a tree and ended up missing an 8-foot putt for par. But she got that stroke back when she capped off her round with a Birdie No. 8 at the 18th, for a back-nine (West side) 32. The 65 broke by two shots the old record of 67 that Kenzie Neisen and Sarah Burnham both shot during the first round in 2014, and Bella McCauley tied in the first round on her way to victory in 2019.

McCauley, the University of Minnesota's prize recruit for 2022, was named Minnesota's Ms. Golf on Sunday night. She has undergone a similar transformation to the one that VanArragon has made, as far as distance off the tee is concerned. The year that VanArragon won with her 200-yard drives, McCauley was also averging not much more than 200 yards, and she finished sixth with a 78-72--150.

Like VanArragon, Bella birdied the par-3 third hole and then two-putted the par-5 fourth for a second birdie in a row. She pulled her approach at the ninth, didn't have a great lie in the left greenside bunker, and ended up hanging her 18-foot par putt on the lip. That was her only bogey of the round. 

The highlight of her day was an eagle at the 11th, after she hit a 3-wood into the wind (12 to 15 mph) from 186 yards to 5 feet. Her second shot at the par-5 14th hit a rake, and she two-putted from 25 feet for her penultimate birdie. At the 18th, she hit flip wedge close at the 18th and matched VanArragon's birdie. 

Even though she's the younger sister, and only a sophomre, Reese McCauley might be the longest hitter in the AAA girls field. She averages something in the neighborhood of 260 yards, and gets closer to 280 yards on occasion. And it was Reese who got off to the fastest start on Tuesday -- with four birdies on the first five holes. 

She hit wedges to within 15 feet at the first and third holes, and a 6-iron to the green for a two-putt birdie at the fourth. Another wedge to 12 feet produced Birdie No. 4 at the fifth hole. But she shoved her tee shot at the par-5 sixth and left her third shot in the front bunker, which resulted in a bogey. 

At the ninth hole, she appeared to be on the verge of making another bogey when she hit her drive into the water hazard left of the fairway, but she saved her par with a 15-foot putt, and followed that with two more birdies at the 10th and 11th holes, which got her to 5 under par for the day. 

Reese bogeyed the 13th when she missed a short putt, and she lipped out a 4-footer for birdie at the 14th. Her best shot of the day might have been the hybrid she hit to 8 feet at the 170-yard, par-3 17th, but she missed that one, as well. At the 18th, she pulled her drive and hit a tree, leaving her with no option except to punch the ball out to 40 yards short. From there, however, he hit gorgeous pitch to a foot and tapped in for her par. 

"That was a nice way to end the round," she said, "but I did leave a few out there today." 

Alexandria won the AAA girls team championship  by 22 shots over Maple Grove last year, and the Cardinals could be on the way to another resounding victory. The defending champs got a 75 from Cora Larson, who is the other player tied for fifth, along with Clara Halvorson and Madi Hicks, and a 76 from Hannah Boraas. And Lauren Rebrovich is the third Alexandria player in the top 20. She shot 80. 

The Cardinals are at 318 so far, and Maple Grove is second once again, at 327. Eastview may still have a shot, from 331, but Elk River is probably too far back at 338. 


THE 2022 MINNESOTA STATE GIRLS’ CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP
BUNKER HILLS GOLF COURSE
COON RAPIDS, MINN.
5,810 YARDS, PAR 72

TUESDAY’S FIRST ROUND TEAM RESULTS
1. Alexandria Area -- 318
2. Maple Grove -- 327
3. Eastview -- 331
4. Elk River -- 338
5. Edina -- 341
6. Eden Prairie -- 344
7. Lakeville South -- 353
8. Stillwater Area -- 356

TUESDAY’S FIRST ROUND INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1. Kathryn VanArragon, Blaine -- 65
2. Bella McCauley, Simley -- 67
3. Reese McCauley, Simley -- 68
4. McKenna Mallow, Detroit Lakes -- 70
T5. Cora Larson, Alexandria -- 75
T5. Madi Hicks, Chanhassen -- 75
T5. Clara Halverson, Benilde-St. Margaret's -- 75
T8. Avery O'Donnell, Elk River -- 76
T8. Hannah Boraas, Alexandria -- 76
T8. Ellie Breuer, St. Michael-Albertville 76
11. Nicole Reineke, Chaska -- 77
T12. Lauryn Finley, Eastview -- 78
T12. Selena Wu, Minnetonka -- 78
T12. Kelsi Mauzy, Lakeville South -- 78


For complete tournament results: https://www.mshsl.org/2022-state-golf-results