GRAND FORKS — The emotional swings can change in an instant on the golf course, as Grand Forks Red River’s Alexis Fabian experienced on Wednesday at King’s Walk on her way to medalist honors.
Walking down the fairway on No. 17, she sat two shots up on West Fargo Sheyenne’s Ava Keene, who was even on the day.
Fabian was in control of her destiny but in a tough spot, sitting in the left-side rough of the short par-four hole.
Keene had driven the green and was in prime position for birdie. The situation called for an intermediate wedge over the cart path and an easy look at par or better. However, her approach came up short of the green and the subsequent chip gave her a daunting downhill par putt from 10 feet out.
“My approach shot, I just told myself, ‘Alright, you can still make par, so just hit it close.’ Obviously, I still had a little bit of a longer putt but I managed to find the mental toughness and tell myself I was going to make the putt. I took my time, made a confident stroke and made the putt,” Fabian said.
Fabian knocked the putt down and a miss from Keene ended what could have been a two-stroke swing and a tie at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final hole. Instead, Fabian captured her fifth meet this season by carding a career-low 69 at her home course.
Aiming to break 70 also made for a nerve-wracking walk down No. 18, as she had to remind herself to keep a calm pace through her final strokes. Again, an approach shot left short on the par-five final hole put that milestone mark in jeopardy and again she sank a hefty putt for birdie and the best round in the EDC this year.
“On 18 the nerves picked up because I was two-under. I knew what was going to happen. So I really had to visualize what my shot was going to be,” Fabian said. “Today I felt like I was striking the ball really well. My chipping and putting was really on point and I feel like that helped me. The last two holes I was definitely very nervous, but I’ve been in this position before and so it made the situation a little easier to work through those nerves.”
That reminder continues to build weight in her junior season, where she has yet to finish outside the top two in a meet and has had at least a share of first place in all but two tournaments. Between her 75 at Grand Forks Country Club and Wednesday’s performance, she had a 73 and a win in Devils Lake.
The positive mindset Fabian carries with her is emphasized by Red River head coach Eric Sanders to the whole Roughrider group. The squad, consistently collecting third-place finishes at each meet, is hoping to bottle the moments of success that come within a day of competition and strike at the right time as regional and state tournaments draw closer.
“It’s the belief that good things are supposed to happen. There’s time when we have a few good holes in a row and it’s going really well … and then it isn’t. It’s tough that way. The whole point of a season is to be your best by the end and that’s the key,” Sanders said.
Rider Eva Gallegos finished in the top five with a 78 where she earned a birdie on No. 2 and interchanged par and bogey through the second nine. She never got into too much trouble as she avoided any doubles on her scorecard.
Red River teammates Ellie Greenberg and Brooke Evans each had quality stretches in their rounds. Greenberg, 94, went birdie-par-par on holes No. 2-4. Evans, 95, picked up three consecutive pars on holes No. 6-8.
Red River’s 331 on Wednesday put it in a solo third finish as Shanley’s 325 narrowly edged out Sheyenne’s 327 in team totals. It’s the second win in a row for the Deacons after the Mustangs claimed the season’s first six tournaments.
Shanley’s top spot was powered by solid scores from each top-three seed: Anika Astrup, Izzy Tillisch and Taylor Sandin. Astrup and Tillisch each had their best golf come on the back nine as Astrup came in with a -2 34 and Tillisch bookended her second nine with birdies and carded a 37.
Redemption also came Aubrey Sellheim’s way for Sheyenne as, after an unfortunate stretch where she went from -1 to +10, she ended her day with birdies on 16 and 17 before saving par on 18.
As with most tournaments this year, Keene and Fabian spent the day going head-to-head and were in lockstep in the early stages as the leaderboard took shape. The pair entered Wednesday at a tie for first place in scoring average in the East Region, pacing a 74.6.
“I really enjoy playing with her. She’s my competition but we manage to have a really good friendship with it,” Fabian said. “She pushes me to work harder and I think I push her to work harder. It’s always just a little bit back and forth. Her putting is insane, so that encourages me to go out and putt more.”
Digital Content Producer and Sports Reporter at the Grand Forks Herald since December of 2020. Maxwell can be contacted at mmarko@gfherald.com.