Fargo South senior Landon Poss hasn't been happy with his recent golf game.
"Not at all," Poss said. "For the last while, I've been playing terrible. I've been thinking too much."
Poss returned to one of his favorite courses Tuesday morning to get his skills back on track.
Poss kicked off the East Region boys golf season by earning medalist honors with a 71 during the Grand Forks Invitational at King's Walk Golf Course on a cold, windy morning.
"I hit the ball well today," Poss said. "I was hitting the ball really straight, and my drive was real consistent. I think I missed two fairways."
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Poss has a successful history at King's Walk. He's finished in the top five in the last three meets there. Poss was medalist at last year's East Region meet at King's Walk, then finished fourth at the state meet at the same course.
"I really like this course," said Poss, who finished with a 74.83 average last year. "I don't mind playing the wind at all."
Poss held off a hard charge from Grand Forks Central junior Ty Kennedy, who birdied No. 18 to finish one shot back with a 72.
Kennedy, who failed to qualify for the state meet last season, averaged 81 strokes last season. Knights coach Sue Ann Lund, though, expected the jump in production from Kennedy, who has been a consistent contributor since he was a seventh-grader.
"Ty had a great day," Lund said. "He was putting well and hitting it solid. His chipping could be better, and that's what we'll work on. He played very well on the back nine."
After Poss and Kennedy, West Fargo's Riley Johnson and Fargo Shanley's Grady Meyer each shot a 73 for third place.
As a team, West Fargo won the meet with 301 strokes. The Packers landed three golfers in the top six. After Johnson, Connor Holland shot a 74 for fifth and Payton Johnson fired a 75 for sixth.
After West Fargo's 301, defending state champion Shanley finished second with 309 and Grand Forks Red River was third with 314.
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The Roughriders were paced by Brady Ohman's 76, which was good for eighth place. Red River's Luke Strom also fired a 77 as the only two Riders to break 80 strokes.
"314 (strokes) isn't bad," Red River coach Merle Mikkelsen said. "Brady was a little disappointed with his back nine. Shooting a 76 isn't bad, but he'll shoot better than that."
Central finished eighth with 327 strokes. Ricky Phillips shot an 80 to accompany Kennedy's nice day.
"I'm excited to see we're seven strokes from sixth, which is where you need to be to go to state," Lund said. "We had a couple of guys that weren't here because they didn't have enough practices in, so hopefully we get better and better each week. For the first day, it was a good start. We're a young team with our three through six (golfers). It was good experience for those kids to see what a varsity tournament looks like."
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
