The Maple Grove Crimson’s love of golf is bringing them success
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (BVM) — For the fourth week in a row, the Maple Grove High School boys golf team is the No. 1-ranked team in Minnesota according to the Minnesota Golf Association and that is exactly what head coach John Schetinski has come to expect from them.
“I had high expectations of them last year and I have really high expectations of them this year,” Schetinski said.
The Crimson won the Class 3A state championship back in 2018, then made it back to the state meet in 2019 but came up short, taking seventh. Now two years removed from its last trip to state, Maple Grove is building up momentum to make another run to state.
“They have the potential,” Schetinski said.
The team has lived up to that potential so far. On May 1, the Crimson won the Preview Tournament beating second-ranked Minnetonka by one stroke. The tournament also featured sixth-ranked and conference rivals, Spring Lake Park and reigning state champions Edina.
Their success can be attributed in large part to their veteran corps of players. Maple Grove features five seniors this year including two, Josh Galvin and Weston Guilli, who were on the 2018 state championship.
“These five seniors have really put it together,” Schetinski said.
Senior Lucas Feterl currently ranks fifth in the state and Galvin ranks eighth, but beside their skills, the seasoned group has helped the Crimson gel together as a team after missing the 2020 season.
“We lost the camaraderie, we lost the togetherness and we lost the team aspect,” Schetinski said.
All of that has been quickly reclaimed by this group and it is helping prepare golfers like freshman Ryan Stendahl, who ranks 43rd in the state, to take over the program next year. Schetinski has credited their chemistry to their mutual and genuine love for the game of golf.
“These guys just love playing with each other, it is good camaraderie, they have fun and that’s really the cool thing about it,” Schetinski said. “This is a tight-knit group.”
Along with the camaraderie has come a resilience to adversity that has been on full display and Schetinski has noticed it.
“They’re playing hard, they’re not giving up which is one thing that I’ve really seen this year,” Schetinski said. “The determination to, ‘You know what I’m going to birdie the next hole,’ and they’re doing it so it’s just fun to watch.”
It’s an important trait to have as the Crimson approach postseason play and something they’ll need if they don’t want to repeat what happened in 2019. That year coming off their state championship, they entered the second day of the state meet in similar fashion to 2018 but with the added expectations Maple Grove struggled to finish.
“There’s no guarantee, we’re confident but we’re not over confident because we learned that lesson in 2019,” Schetinski said.
The Crimson know that if they play the way they know they can and do that for a full 18 holes, they have as good a chance as any to bring the state title. However, at the end of the day, the fun they are having together and the memories they are making is what matters.
“It’s just fun to see that these guys love the game of golf,” Schetinski said.
