BILLINGS- With one last medal hung around her neck, Anna Stensrud wrapped up one of the most memorable Hellgate golf runs in the past decade.
On the practice green at Lake Hills golf course last Friday, after a T-4 State placement, Stesnrud’s name would be called for a final time in red and gold.
“I’m really proud of how much I’ve dedicated myself to golf,” smiled Stensrud after her finish. “As a freshman, I didn’t take the game too seriously, and I didn’t play well either. The harder I practiced and the better I got, the more rewarding it became to play in these tournaments.”
And what a reward it was.
With another trio of wins to back up her impressive Junior campaign last fall, Stensrud fired multiple rounds in the 70’s in her senior year, including a 74 (+2) in her hometown at the MCPS invite.
“I didn’t really have any expectations for my senior year,” said Stensrud. “I obviously wanted to play my best, but I also wanted to enjoy my senior season with friends. The competitive mindset definitely cost me some strokes through the end of the season- my main effort was to play my own game.”
Despite some struggles in the final tournament of her career, Stensrud fought through adversity to fire rounds of 80-81-161, to finish inside the top-5 at the AA level. Carding 4 birdies for the tournament, including back to back birdies on holes two and three on day two in Billings helped bring that fire back. But with the track record that she made for herself throughout her final campaign, the bogeys tallied up made their mark on the birdies.
“Definitely not the way I wanted to end my four years of highschool golf,” chuckled Stensrud. “But now that this chapter has closed, I am looking forward to new and exciting opportunities to open.”
And the opportunities are endless. With multiple colleges getting wind of Hellgate’s talented senior, Stensrud has made her name known throughout Montana. Wins at the MCPS invitational, Helena Invite, Western AA Divisional, and top-5 placements in the remaining three tournaments of her final season was more than enough to solidify her talent to play at the next level.
“I am looking forward to a new, competitive realm of golf that will be a completely different atmosphere than I’m used to,” said Stensrud.
From an unusual pandemic filled freshman year, to a star-studded senior finish, Anna Stensrud left a career as a Hellgate Knight that will be remembered for a long time. Stay tuned to Stensrud’s story as she continues to tear up competition at the collegiate level next season!
