Many of the state’s top players will be visiting St. Croix Valley golf courses in the coming weeks, starting with the Minnesota Golf Association’s Mixed Amateur Championship at Oak Glen Golf Club on July 6-7.

The first round of the two-day, 36-hole event is a four-ball while Day 2 uses a Modified Chapman format, which means both players hit their tee shots and then play their partner’s ball for the second shot. The team then chooses the ball to play next and alternate shots until holing out.

Siblings Ben and Madi Hicks of Chaska Town Course won the event a year ago when it was held at Hastings Golf Club.

The Mixed Amateur Championship was previously held at Stillwater Country Club in 2024, when Sean Lehman and Hannah Boraas of Alexandria Golf Club captured the title.

Oak Glen also hosted the tournament in 2015 when Stillwater Area High School standout Cassie Deeg and Dominic Kieffer won the event, defending the title they won at Emerald Greens Golf Club the previous year.

The MGA’s 123rd Amateur Championship is also coming to StoneRidge Golf Club in West Lakeland Township on July 21-23, which is also the same week Scottie Scheffler and the PGA Tour arrives in Minnesota for the 3M Open at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.

Nate Stevens of Northfield Golf Club won last year’s State Amateur when it was held at The Classic at Madden’s in Brainerd. Stevens finished 3-under (72-71-67–210) to defeat Joseph Rohlwing (74-69-69–212) of Cannon Golf Club by two shots.

The first of 12 qualifying tournaments to determine most of the 156-player field for the State Amateur was held at Legacy Golf Club in Faribault on June 11 and was scheduled to wrap up on June 26 at Timber Creek Golf Course in Watertown.

In addition to the Totten Heffelfinger Trophy, this year’s champion will receive a full exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship which is slated for Aug. 10-16 at venerable Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

The exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship for the winner of the Minnesota State Amateur began in 2024.

Ponies earn recognition

Several members of the Stillwater swimming and diving programs recently received Academic All-American honors from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association for the 2025-26 school year. NISCA Academic All-American recognition is reserved for seniors with a non-weighted grade point average of 3.75 or higher.

Athletes for the Stillwater girls who received this honor (and the college they are attending this fall) were Hanna Wiese (University of Wiscosin-Stout), Reese Bilot (University of Wisconsin), Kaelynn Grecian (University of North Carolina), Isabel Koch (Minnesota State Moorhead), Sienna Nordman (University of Wisconsin), and Hailey Schmit (University of Minnesota).

The Stillwater boys swimming and diving team had three athletes honored: Sam Loken (University of Wisconsin), Zach Cody (Loyola University Chicago), and Jack Howell (University of Minnesota).

• Brian Luke, who has served as head coach for the Stillwater girls and boys swimming and diving teams for each of the past 51 years, is one of eight finalists for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year Award that will be presented during the NHSACA Banquet on Wednesday, July 1 in Coralville, Iowa.

As part of the convention, Scott Christensen — another legendary Ponies coach — is being inducted into the NHSACA Hall of Fame on Tuesday, June 30. Along with Christensen, Geri Dirth of Apple Valley is another Minnesota coach included in this year’s induction class.

Carlson excels for Dinos

Stillwater Area High School graduate Jacob Carlson, who contributed to the baseball team’s 2022 state championship, enjoyed a historic season this spring as a member of the University of Calgary baseball team.

Carlson, an accounting major, batted .416 with 62 hits for the Dinos in their 39-game season. He easily surpassed the previous school record of 40 hits in a season. Carlson was named First Team All-Conference in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference (CCBC), which includes programs from British Columbia and Alberta and is considered the top collegiate conference in Canada.

With another season of eligibility, Carlson stands 30 shy of the program’s career hits record.

The Dinos placed fifth in the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) with a 17-19 record to earn a spot in the six-team championship bracket of the playoffs, where they upset the defending champion Okanagan College Coyotes in the opening round before getting eliminated.