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Home > Bison Media Zone > Shanley's Jake Skarperud wins North Dakota's Mr. Golf award
Podcast: Bison Media Zone
Episode:

Shanley's Jake Skarperud wins North Dakota's Mr. Golf award
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2022-06-12 00:30:00
Description: FARGO New award, familiar name. Fargo Shanley’s Jake Skarperud was named the inaugural winner of North Dakota’s Mr. Golf award on Saturday night, another honor in a long line of them within the family.

Skarperud was presented the trophy at a banquet for the Russ Newman Junior Invitational at the Fargo Country Club. Wahpeton’s Anaka Lysne was named the first recipient of Ms. Golf with both awards being the brainchild of the Dakota Junior Golf Association, which put together a voting committee of media, former PGA professionals and high school coaches.



The award takes into account amateur tournaments, where last summer Skarperud was the Bobcat North Dakota Open amateur champion and the North Dakota Golf Association Match Play winner. He was the 2020 North Dakota Class A individual state champ and finished in a tie for fifth in the ‘22 tourney earlier this week.



Also nominated were Cody Card of Fargo Oak Grove and Logan Schoepp of Bismarck Century.



Skarperud is already signed to play at North Dakota State this coming season.



“I’m getting somebody who is ready to step into the lineup,” said NDSU head coach Steve Kennedy. “He comes from a great family with a great golfing history. He knows how to play the game and he knows how to win.”



Skarperud’s father, Chad Skarperud, is a former Pine to Palm champion. With Jake Skarperud, it was another close-to-home recruiting victory for Kennedy, who last year got Moorhead’s Ian Simonich, a 2021 Minnesota Mr. Golf finalist and the 2020 Pine to Palm champ, to play at NDSU.



It’s been a trend since Kennedy got Andrew Israelson from Staples-Motley to stay in the area several years ago.



“That’s something when I got this job, I wanted to make sure we kept the really good players here,” Kennedy said. “Luckily we’ve been able to do that the last few years. It’s important to me to do that.”



This spring’s Summit League champion Nate Deziel is from East Grand Forks, Minn.



“They see our program is going in the right direction,” Kennedy said. “They can see that we have a team that can win the conference every year. And hopefully it stays that way and we keep the good players here.”



Kennedy said Skarperud, a hockey player at Shanley, will benefit from year-around training for golf.



“He does have the whole game,” Kennedy said. “I think he’ll get longer as he goes through our strength and conditioning program and that will make him a better player. And so will playing with good players every day. That’s one of the things the players always tell me: playing and practicing with them makes them better.”



Lysne was the Class A Senior Athlete of the Year and led the Eastern Dakota Conference in scoring average at 78.3 strokes per 18 holes. Grace Nantt from two-time Class B state champion Heart River was also nominated.



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