The golf future for the next four years is set for Ty Kennedy. That doesn't lessen his drive to do well now.
The Grand Forks Central senior's bid to gain medalist honors for the second time in his high school career came up one stroke short Monday. Riley Johnson of West Fargo was medalist at the Grand Forks Invitational with a 71. Kennedy, Fargo Shanley's Grady Meyer and Wahpeton's Ryan Ames tied for second at 72 at King's Walk Golf Course.
"I hit the ball really well," Kennedy said. "But from about the 14th to the 18th (holes), I missed some putts. Then, on 18, I hit the water on my second shot and wound up with a bogey.
"I play here a lot. I usually birdie the 18th. It's disgusting. You never go in saying you're going for second place."
The place in the future for Kennedy is Cal State-Stanislaus. Kennedy signed a letter of intent last fall to play golf at the NCAA Division II school, located near San Francisco.
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North Dakota probably isn't on the recruiting map for California-based colleges, Kennedy admits. But he was aggressive in selling himself.
"It's really unusual," Kennedy said. "I wanted to go somewhere where I could play year round. I sent e-mails to a lot of coaches, saying here are my scores and tournaments I'm playing in. I got a lot of responses from coaches; a lot of them said they never hear from North Dakota kids.
"I had to seek them out. I guess they liked what they saw."
Kennedy placed fourth at last season's Class A state meet. He hopes to improve on that.
"There's a lot less weight on your shoulders, no pressure to know where I'll be playing," Kennedy said. "But I still set goals. I set pressure on myself to perform."
Fargo Shanley won the team title in the invitational, shooting a 299 to edge runner-up Wahpeton by two strokes.
Grand Forks Red River, led by Barret Eickhof (76) and Josh Steen (78), finished fourth at 315, with Central getting a 330 to place seventh.
