Sorenson claims home championship

For the first time in a long time, Custer High School golf has a tournament champion.
Curtis Sorenson, by virtue of firing a round of 73, claimed medalist honors at last Thursday’s Custer Invitational, topping the rest of the field on the Wildcat’s home course.
“I think Curtis did well because of some home cooking. He’s playing on a course he grew up on. He’s very capable of doing that,” head coach Paul Kelley said. “There is just a couple of holes that come back to bite him once in a while. It was fun to watch. It was a great round.”
Not far behind Sorenson was fellow Wildcat Mason Dirkes, who also shot in the 70s, firing a round of 79 to claim sixth place. Rounding out the Custer entries were Brennan Gangel at 90, Phoenix Barrick at 92, Relic Bailey at 92, Bodie VanDerBoom at 93, Chayden Lewis at 102, Tatum Reindl at 106 and Brady Glassgow at 111.
“He’s another kid (Dirkes) who is capable. It’s what they do in practice,” Kelley said. “What a lot of people don’t realize, it’s easy to golf when you’re just golfing. When you’re in a tournament, it’s learning to play in a tournament. I think at times their heads kind of get in the way.”
Kelley said having Sorenson and Dirkes in the 70s is what he expected from the two, and he hopes it can carry on over the last few weeks of the season.
As a team at the past couple of meets, Kelley said it has been a mixed bag, as the Wildcats have trouble all playing well at the same time.
“We can’t get it all together,” he said. 
Custer finished fourth as a team at 46 over par. Belle Fourche won the team championship by being 30 over.
Monday the team was at Southern Hills Golf Course in Hot Springs for the Southern Hills Invitational, where Sorenson played his way to a third-place finish, shooting a round of 81.
He was followed by Relic Bailey, who was just outside the top 10 with a round of 90, while Barrick was at 92, as was Gangel and Dirkes. Rounding out the Wildcat entries was VanDerBoom at 102.
The Wildcats are off until next Monday, when they head to the Black Hills Conference Meet, which will be played at Boulder Canyon Country Club outside of Sturgis. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
Kelley said if his team can put it altogether, it can compete with the teams favored to win the meet—St. Thomas More, Sturgis and Belle Fourche.
“Those are the favorites headed into the conference meet. Our kids just need to go out and compete,” he said. “Not one player. I’m talking about all six kids. We can’t have those blow up holes that some of our kids are having. It’s not that they kill us, it’s how we react to them.”