It took 37 holes for Huron’s Bryn Huber to win the state ‘AA’ girls golf title this week in Pierre. A tie at +1 with Allison Meyerink of Mitchell after the second round sent the pair into a playoff to decide a winner.
While Tuesday’s series of events may have felt like a blur to some competitors in that spot, for Huber, she went through it stroke by stroke.
“I had that positive mindset of, you know what? If I don't win this one, I'm not a loser. Either way I played my best that I could and I just knew that I had to get it done,” said Huber. “I teed off first and I went into the bunker and then [Allison] teed off. She went left into the rough but had an open shot to the green. And then I hit my shot probably 30 feet from the pin. Hers was a little more. And we get up there, we're walking out our putts and she asked me, she goes, "Who's out?" And I was like, "Well, I think you are, but I can go." And I was just lining up that putt and I was like, "You've got to give it a chance to go in because this could be your last." And that's what I did and I hit it and it looked right, and I was like, "Oh, this is going to be close." And it just went right in.”
Huron’s Bryn Huber birdies the first playoff hole and Mitchell’s Allison Meyerink just comes up short on her birdie attempt. Huber wins the @SDHSAA State AA Girls Golf Title. #SDPreps pic.twitter.com/BNFXiqmVND
— Zach Borg (@IceBorg) June 6, 2023
As a senior, Tuesday’s round of golf was the final in Huber’s high school career. Her career with the Tigers goes back to middle school. In seventh grade, she just missed the cut to the top-25 at state and then in eighth grade she placed tied for 24th. Huber’s high school career began with her season being canceled due to the pandemic, but she came back as a sophomore to place 15th. Then last year, Huber got third, and now, as a senior, a state championship.
“Tears of joy just rolled down. It’s a dream come true. I was just in shock, honestly. I was like, ‘Wow, this really happened.’ And I didn't think it could and it really did,” Huber exclaimed. “It means a lot and especially for our school. I'm the first female state champion there is, so it's kind of a big deal. And I couldn't have done it without my coaches, and especially my teammate, Olivia Rink. She played amazing the second day too, and she got up there for that all-tournament team and I couldn't have done it without her support either.”
Huber’s teammate Olivia Rink of Huron finished at +6 for the tournament, tied for 5th. As far as the ‘AA’ girls state team title, Mitchell won that.
“The [Eastern South Dakota Conference] girls, we rep well,” chuckled Huber, who acknowledged how the top two team performances, Mitchell and Aberdeen Central, and top-5 individual performers are all members of the ESD.
Next year, Huber will attend the University of Sioux Falls where she’ll continue to play golf.
“I was told a year or two ago by my coaches, they sat down and they asked me, they were like ‘do you want to play college golf?’ And they knew I was a volleyball player as well and I had that in my mind too,” Huber explained. “I love the game of golf, I love the relationships you gain, and it’s just something that lasts forever.”
