Titan golf team clinches third consecutive title with record-breaking performance

The Tea Area High School golf team is off and rolling this season, earning their third team title on Monday, Aug. 21 in Dell Rapids while setting a new school record.

“We shot 303 which broke our previous record by 10,” said Titan head coach Brock Murphy. “It’s kind of fun being able to play on the team that previously held the record and then now coaching the team that broke my team that I played on record is pretty fun.”

The Titans were led by Derek Anderson who tied for fourth place at Dell Rapids, shooting a 72 (36, 36) on the day, just one over par. His day was highlighted with five birdies. Tea Area’s Brady Sabers tied for eighth with a score of 74 (38, 36). CJ Slack finished tied for 14th with his 18-hole total of 78 (37, 41) and Keeton Newborg tied for 19th shooting a 79 (42, 37).

The Titans’ Harper Schnabel finished with an 84 (37, 47) and Quintin Maag an 85 (43, 42).

The Titans defeated 16 teams to win the team title.

“The team has been playing very well. I am incredibly proud of the resiliency of this team. The ability to bounce back after bad holes has been a strength of ours. Quentin Maag is the perfect example of that. He made a 13 on hole 2 at Central Valley and proceeded to come back to make a couple pars. I do not want to call it a care free attitude but essentially that is what it is,” said Murphy. “Quentin most recently was +8 through 6 holes at Dell Rapids, then proceeded to play the next 12 at +6. I know when I was that age, I wish I could do that. I admire that ability.”

Murphy said every single one of the players just want it.

“We do not want to just win Regions or State, they want to win everything and it’s proven valuable early on,” he added. “Keeton Newborg, the defending state champion said to me the other day ‘I don’t care about the individual, I just want another team championship’. That quote right there is the epitome of our team. Its about ‘Us’ and not ‘I’. Which in golf, that Us>I standpoint is very difficult to overcome and these guys have done it so early which is exciting.”

Even though the Titans have won the first three tournaments they have been in, Murphy believes their focus is only getting better.

“Myself, and I think the whole team, can all agree that our best golf is still in front of us. While we can celebrate on these victories, there are still plenty of places where we can better ourselves,” said Murphy. “One area of focus is getting themselves out of bad situations, and accepting that bogey is an acceptable score. Second is to avoid three putting as much as we can. Third is to stop making the big numbers. The sixes, sevens, eights, nines, or even most recently the dreaded tens. If we can get better in those areas, I believe we can post a sub 290 this year. That would be absolutely amazing if we can do that and I would find it as a major success.”

The Titans will competed at Willow Run on Tuesday, Aug. 29. On Sept. 7 they head to Vermillion to compete in the Invite at The Bluffs.