Under new head coach Vern Schnathorst, Detroit Lakes Boys Golf Is Ready For 2022 Season

Nick Tobkin hits shots with his eight-iron in the new Golf Simulator Room at the Lakeshirts Fieldhouse

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – While many area spring sports teams have had at least one outdoor practice, the golf teams from Detroit Lakes continue to wait patiently for the winter weather to disappear.

“We are one of the fortunate ones”, says boys head coach Vern Schnathorst. “Over the winter, we finished the construction of a golf simulator room here at the Lakeshirts Fieldhouse. It was something that we really didn’t plan on putting in, but last summer (girls coach) Kris Smith and I started throwing around some ideas, and we got (activities director) Rob Nielsen on board. There was a nice-sized space underneath the walking track that we took a look at and figured we could do something that could really be a benefit to the golf team. The Booster Club gave us $15,000, Bell Bank donated $10,000, Pro Resources donated a couple of thousand dollars and helped get our technology running, and our Growth of the Game Foundation gave a good chunk of money, too. With those resources, we were able to create just an awesome space for our golfers to practice when the weather outside won’t allow it. There’s a big golf simulator in there, the entire floor is a putting and chipping surface with five holes built into the floor. We can get around seven kids in there at a time working on different things.”

Jack Syltie (left) and Nick Tobkin work in the new Golf Simulator Room at the Lakeshirts Fieldhouse

The Lakers Boys Golf team was two strokes away from winning the Section Championship and advancing to the State Golf Meet last season. the Lakers tied Roseau for the championship last spring. In high school golf, ties are decided by the two-day score of the fifth golfer.

“It was about as hard a defeat as you could get,” says Schnathorst. “It was a tough way to lose a section championship. We would have loved to have gone out on the course and played a playoff hole, but that’s not how the MSHSL has it drawn up.”

Numbers for Laker boys golf are really strong this season: 30 golfers between 9th and 12th grade, and 20 more middle school golfers.

“We graduated two seniors last year: Lukas Justaffson, who was the section medalist and competed at State last June, and Jacob Green,” says Schnathorst. “Those two guys were incredible leaders on this team, but they left a great impact on last year’s underclassmen. This year, we’ve got senior Jack Syltie returning from last year’s section team. Jack’s a great kid. He’s been a great leader so far in helping get things set up for the season. We’ve got two juniors: Ben Hines and Logan Schons. Those two guys were very close to being on the section team as sophomores last year. Our junior class is very strong, we’ve got six or seven guys that will compete for first-team spots. Nick Tobkin and Noah Meyer are back from last year’s section team, too. We’ve got 10 to 12 guys that are really gonna push each other to be on that first and second team this year.”

One of the big changes for Laker golf this year will be the absence of Hall of Fame golf coach Bob Gorden, who retired last June after 22 seasons as head coach.

“Bob is still around,” Schnathorst told KDLM. “He is staying down south a little longer than he usually does, but he’s always eager to help out. He didn’t just throw me the keys and say ‘see you later’. When he gets back, he’s planning on volunteering as a coach and tournament volunteer. We’re certainly going to take him up on as much as he’d like to do. But it’s been a very smooth transition. Bob left a very solid blueprint for Laker golf. Something that made Bob a special coach was that if something needed to be changed and adjusted he was always willing to do that, and I’m the same way. Kris Smith has done the same thing with new coach Dustin Martin on the girls side. Both guys will be around and are willing to assist and help out if we ask them to. Another thing that’s been great is a couple of additions to my coaching staff: Jay Peterson used to be the girls basketball coach at Lake Park-Audubon and he’s one of my assistant coaches this year. Jay loves teaching kids the game of golf and it’s been great to have him around. Also Greg Unruh, who was a JV golf coach over in Fargo for many years, has stepped in as our third coach because we’ve had such good numbers. The three of us work together really well,”

The Lakers were scheduled to play their season opener this Friday in Minnewaska, but that meet has been rescheduled to April 20th due to weather. The next meet on the schedule for the Lakers is an April 14th invite at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker.