Northeast's Alijah Dopson, EV boys team advance to districts

May 15—Several local golfers found success at sectional meets Thursday across the state.

Northeast's Alijah Dopson shot an 89 in a sectional at Guttenberg Golf and Country Club to advance, while Northeast placed third as a team. Camanche also competed at Guttenberg, but did not have any qualifiers.

Easton Valley won a sectional at Little Bear Country Club in Wyoming with a team score of 361. EV's Ethan Farrell was medalist with a 78.

Also shooting for EV were Abe Driscoll (fifth, 89), Hayden Holdgrafer (10th, 96) and Lucas Heister (13th, 98).

Dopson said while he could have played better, he's glad to be moving on.

"I had my moments," Dopson said. "I would say I didn't play overly well — I played good enough to move on, so that's all I could really ask for. It was quite windy out. Nobody really shot that well, so I knew coming in, if I could keep it under 90, I was going to give myself a chance.

"I hit a few arrogant shots here and there, tried to play hero ball, but it got the job done at the end of the day."

Dopson's sophomore season, he missed districts by two strokes and then didn't have an opportunity to advance last year due to COVID.

Dopson will compete at a district held at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo Friday, May 21. He plans to spend the night Thursday and get a feel for the course.

He knows the stakes will be high Friday.

"I feel like there's definitely pressure on me because I want to advance — I feel like I need to advance," Dopson said. "I feel pretty good right now considering I didn't play overly well and I still moved on."

Easton Valley will compete at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls, also on Friday.