(Photo by Jeff Hasselmann) Spencer senior Emily Holck watches her tee shot drop on the green Friday, May 9, 2008, on the par-3 17th hole at Spencer Golf and Country Club. Holck went on to card a 9-hole school record with a 37, and punched her ticket to the regional tournament Monday with meet-best 93 at the Tigers' district tournament in Le Mars. [Order this photo]

Their return to Class 3A for the first time since their last state tournament appearance in 2005 still left the Tigers on the outside looking in Monday at their district tournament at Willow Creek Golf Course where Spencer finished 11 strokes behind runner-up Spirit Lake with a team score of 428.

"I'm disappointed and so are the girls, but it wasn't lack of effort by any means. It just wasn't their day," said Spencer head coach Marc Bruning.

MOC-Floyd Valley rolled to the district title with a 394, the Indians grabbed the second of two regional qualifying spots with a 417. Sioux City Heelan finished fourth behind the Tigers with a 463. Estherville-Lincoln Central placed fifth in the eight-team field with a 497.

"It's just a situation where we're a pretty fair weather team," Bruning said, adding that Monday's windy conditions played a big factor in the scores. "Whenever the weather has been good we've played pretty well. When we've had to deal with some adversity with the weather, we haven't been able to figure it out."

"It was there for the taking," Bruning added. "I'm disappointed for the seniors that they couldn't advance further, but I couldn't be happier with their effort all year long."

Despite the team's third-place finish, Emily Holck made her way back to the regional tournament with a medalist performance. Holck, a returning state qualifier, won the tournament with a 93. MOC-Floyd Valley's Brandi TeGrotenhuis and Mel Babcock each shot 96, followed by teammate Jesse Krull with a 99 and Spirit Lake's Emilly Ayres with a 102.

Holck tied for 25th in last year's Class 4A individual state tournament field with a two-day total of 172. She will compete in Monday's regional tournament at Lake Creek Country Club in Storm Lake.

"Looking at the regional pairings, she's going to have to play her 'A' game," Bruning commented, "but she's more than capable of getting through there and getting to the state tournament if she plays the way she's been playing. She'll be prepared."

Katie Rettey added a 107 for the Tigers; fellow senior Kara Merchant carded a 113. Ryan DeYoung shot 115, junior Katie Simons shot 120 and senior Emily Andersen had a 128.

Bruning, who led the Tigers to a second-place Lakes Conference finish, gave credit to his assistant coach, Jim Hanthorne, for another successful season for the Spencer girls golf program.

"It's a valuable asset to have a guy with as much knowledge as he has and as caring as he is with the kids to volunteer his time," Bruning said. "It's a tremendous advantage for us here at Spencer to have guy like him."