Fire Truck to Send Off Bulldogs to State Golf on Sunday 

The Bulldogs golf team will leave on Sunday, October 6, for the 2024 South Dakota Class A State Golf Tournament.  A fire truck from the Milbank Fire Department will help send off the boys at 7:45 a.m. from the Milbank Middle School parking lot. 

The tournament will be played at Central Valley Golf Course in Hartford on Monday, October 7, and Tuesday, October 8.  Anthony Lanham, a senior from West Central, returns as the defending State A champion. Vermillion won the 2023 team title. 

Milbank’s Jonathan DeBoer tied for ninth place last year as a sophomore. This will mark DeBoer’s fifth trip to the state tournament and senior Owen Fischer’s fourth. Going for the first time are seniors Charlie Peery and Gregory Grabow and junior Ryan Keeton.

MHS History at State Golf: Milbank has captured four state Class A golf titles, including back-to-back championships in 1991 and 1992, when the Bulldogs  played in the larger of South Dakota’s two classes. Additional titles were won in 2002 and 2005 under the current three-class system.

According to Mark Keeton, head coach for Bulldogs, 2014 was the last time Milbank played in the state tournament as a team. That year, the Bulldogs brought home seventh place. Golfers included Sean Zimny (T14), Brady Gomer (T21), JP Lindquist (T42), and Ryan Schreurs(T72).

The Valley Express caught up with Zimny, and he said, ”Please send my best wishes and good luck to the team!  He also offered some sage advice, “The golfers will be the most nervous out of any tournament they play all year, but they will also have the best time they’ve ever had on a golf course if they let themselves. Know that you’re at the tournament for a reason and be proud to represent Milbank at the state level. That means on and off the course. It’s a really exciting privilege!”

Brady Gomer said,  “Congrats on qualifying. The hardest part, which is making it to State, is over. Now that you are there, enjoy the moment! The state tourney stood out because it was always the goal. We worked all year just to get there, and once you are there, you are free from worrying. Now you can just have some fun.”

Schreuers also sent his good wishes. “Honestly, the best part was being there with my classmates, JP, Sean, and Brady,” he reminisced. “I hope the guys soak it up and take it hole by hole. Enjoy it most of all and shoot low! Lindquist is traveling in Africa now and was unable to respond.

Submitted Photo: left to right- Peery, Grabow, Fischer, Keeton and DeBoer.