Cloquet senior Sam Baker shot a 4-under-par 68 on Tuesday to put himself and the Lumberjacks atop the leaderboard after the opening day of the Minnesota Class AA boys state golf championship at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan, Minnesota.
The first groups will tee off at noon Wednesday for the second and final round of the Class AA state championship. Baker leads Staples-Motley senior Beck Erholtz by three strokes atop the individual leaderboard while Cloquet has a five-stroke lead over second-place Totino-Grace in the team standings.
Baker and Erholtz, who will tee off along with three others in the final group at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, were the only two golfers to finish under par Tuesday in Jordan.
Baker was one of three Lumberjacks to finish the opening round among the top 20 on Tuesday with junior Jacob Walsh and eighth-grader Karson Young both finishing 4-over as part of a eight-person tie for 10th.
Sophomore Karson Patten and senior Trevor Steinert are tied for 38th — along with Duluth Denfeld’s Nate Burke — at 8-over. Senior Brayden Tyman is 70th at 15-over.
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In the Class AA girls meet in Jordan, Hermantown sits last at 397, 54 strokes back of first-place Lake City after Day 1. The Hawks were led by junior Callie Showalter, who shot a 91 to put herself in a tie for 28th.
In Class AAA boys, Duluth East also finds itself in last after shooting 348 on Day 1 — 50 strokes back of first-place Edina — at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Sophomore Ben Mertz carded a 77 to lead the Greyhounds and finish the opening round in a tie for 37th place.
In Class A boys at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker, Minnesota, North Woods sits fourth at 346, 23 shots back of first-place Fertile-Beltrami. An 81 by senior Sam Freeze and 82 by senior Ian Olson lead the Grizzlies.
