Red Wing girls' golf team stays at head of class, 3A or 2A

Moving back to the blue tee box from the white brings more of a challenge to golfers at Mississippi National Golf Links in Red Wing. It's a subtle change, in course rating and degree of difficulty.

That's what the Red Wing girls' golf team did two years ago when it opted up from Class 2A to Class 3A. It was the only golf program (girls or boys) in the state to make that decision before the 2015-16 season.

The Wingers boys' squad elected to remain in Class 2A, where the girls will fall back to for the 2017-18 school year. Reclassification with the Minnesota State High School League takes place every two years, often driven by changes in enrollment.

"We opted up for a couple of reasons," Red Wing coach Mark Herzog said. "Our enrollment was always on the bubble between Class 2A and Class 3A, and we had previously been with the big schools, so we were familiar with them."

Another reason, besides having a talented group coming through the program, is periodically what transpires when a section has the two best teams no matter the classification, in this case Red Wing and Lake City. It pales in comparison, but it's what Roseau and Warroad did in Section 8 for boys' hockey starting with the 1997-98 season.

"Lake City and us have been in the same section for years," Herzog said. "Lake City coach Steve Randgaard and I are good friends, and we talked about one of our teams opting up, so we did."

It became the second program in school history to make such a decision. The first was baseball in 2010.

"Our enrollment for section placement declined a bit each year I was there," said Matt Schultz, who served as Red Wing athletic director for eight years before taking over as Lanesboro's superintendent this school year. "Our participation numbers in activities, however, actually increased each year."

The Wingers have three of the state's top golfers in Herzog's daughters, senior Stephanie and sophomore Leah, and sophomore Sophia Yoemans.

"Everybody expects Red Wing to be good, and go to the state tournament every year," Yoemans said. "We don't feel any added pressure to live up to those expectations."

Red Wing appeared in its 17th state tournament last year, finishing third in Class 3A. It came on the heels of winning its fifth state title, the Class 2A championship, in 2015.

"Winning Class 2A in 2015 had nothing to do with us opting up," Herzog said. "The opting up process took place four months before the state tournament, so it was by chance that we had opted up and won."

"It was mainly his decision," said Stephanie, who is headed to the University of Iowa next season.

"It didn't matter to me," Leah said. "It was Dad's choice."

Schultz didn't play a role in the final decision, either.

"I really left that decision to the coach's discretion, since he had a perfect grasp of what was best for his team," Schultz said. "I like to believe we always tried to make the decision that was best for our students in Red Wing."

Herzog followed the lead of the Red Wing baseball program, the first team to opt up in school history, from Class 2A to 3A. It did so for six consecutive years from 2010 to '15.

The most noteworthy was outfielder Ryan Boldt, now playing for Class A Charlotte in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He was a second-round pick out of the University of Nebraska last summer.

"Talent is always going to come and go," Hartmann said. "The great baseball programs reload."

The Wingers, with Boldt, shared the state consolation championship with Hill-Murray in 2012. Their only other state tournament appearance was in 1977 during the two-class format.

It wasn't just the talent level that led to the Wingers opting up. They also hosted the Class 3A, Section 1 final four at the Red Wing Athletic Field.

"With the tournament always in Red Wing, we felt that's where we needed to be," Hartmann said. "We also wanted to compete against the great Class 3A teams in southern Minnesota. It's a great baseball atmosphere."

"Our enrollment has been declining for a number of years now," Hartmann said. "I think we're in pretty good position right now."

Lake City is Red Wing's neighboring community, only 15 miles south down Hwy. 61. The Tigers benefited from Red Wing's decision on the links like no other.

"We finished second in the section to them for six years," Randgaard said. "I sent him a thank you note."

Lake City was the runner-up in the Class 2A state tournament a year ago. It was the Tigers' fifth state tournament trip, and second runner-up finish.

"Mark has done a wonderful job with the Red Wing program," Randgaard said. "They have always teetered between the two classes."

"I tried to encourage him to opt up again this year," Randgaard said with a laugh.

Herzog doesn't see his program opting up again in the near future.

"Our enrollment has decreased to the point that we are not on the bubble," Herzog said. "By switching back and forth between the two classes, the girls have had to play different section and state courses. Having the girls know the courses they will be playing is helpful and cuts down on out-of-pocket money for extra practice rounds."

Red Wing athletic director John Miller said "it's difficult to say'' what lies ahead for other programs. "There are a lot of unknown variables that are taken into consideration when those decisions are being discussed and are specific to each program on an individual basis," he said.