By Matt Gade

605 Sports

RAPID CITY — Heading into the 2025 season, St. Thomas More head coach Brandon Kandolin knew his team had the potential to do something no Cavalier girls’ golf team had done before: win a team title.

Kandolin knew it wouldn’t be easy, but knew the Cavaliers had the talent and potential to do it.

Led by their top golfers, Rylan Horning and Kaitlin Strain, the Cavaliers needed their other team members to fill out a complete team.

Horning, who won the Class A individual state championship in 2023 as a freshman, missed her sophomore year, creating a vacuum for a new champion, with then-eighth-grader Kaitlin Strain winning the Class A individual state championship. 

Last season, with both Horning and Strain back, the Cavaliers were at full strength.

At the Class A tournament at the Madison Country Club, the Cavaliers came out victorious, led by Horning once again, claiming the individual state championship with Strain finishing four strokes behind Horning and taking third place.

Then seventh-grader Sydney Giuseffi finished in 21st, and junior Amity Strand finished tied for 25th.

The Cavaliers scored a 680, five strokes better than second-place Sioux Falls Christian (685) for the team title.

“Yeah, that was amazing. I mean, we weren't really expecting to go into that tournament to win, but hopefully we can kind of do the same thing again,” Horning said.

“It was great. It was very surreal. I loved winning it with this team,” Strain said. “This team, we've been together for a very long time, and I just think being able to finally win it and bring it all together, even like when we were kind of the underdog, we weren't expected to win, it was a really great feeling. Honestly.”

Now hanging inside the St. Thomas More gym resides a state championship banner to mark the team’s first title.

“Now everyone gets to see it right underneath the flag when they play the national anthem,” Strand said.

Kandolin credits the girls’ growth in understanding the mental side of golf, as players will naturally not always have a great stroke or putt and need to adjust.

“You're out there, and you're on your own island, and you have to battle your own demons,” Kandolin said. “I think that was a big key last year, as we talked about being able to slow things down and understand that once you make a decision, you've got to commit to it, and if it didn't turn out that way, then that's all right. 

“You've got to deal with the next; you can't go back and change it. So that mental part and having that toughness is going to be what I'm really excited to see them get better at and make better decisions.”

While Giuseffi decided not to go out for golf this spring, joining Horning, Strain and Strand are Finley Young and Mara Wilkening, who also competed at state last season. 

As this year’s state tournament will be held at Two Rivers Golf Club in North Sioux City, the girls said none of them have seen the course before, but hope to take a visit or two to familiarize themselves with the course.

Horning and Strain said last year’s state tournament at the Madison golf course is one of, if not the toughest, courses they’ve played in South Dakota because it isn’t flat and straight. 

Something they actually like.

“I'd rather have a course I'm familiar with, but I think we'll play it enough times that we will get familiar with it,” Horning said of the Two Rivers course. “It just takes time and kind of knowing what we're gonna do on each hole.”

“I've heard it's pretty straight and there's not much to it,” Strain said. “So hopefully that's not true, actually, because then it makes it easier for other golfers.”

St. Thomas More’s Rylan Horning is mobbed by her teammates after finishing up her round on No. 18 to clinch the individual title during the state girls Class A golf tournament Tuesday June 3, 2025 in Madison. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

While Horning decided to focus her senior year on just golf, up until this year,  all of the girls had been multi-sport athletes, so balancing off-season training hasn’t always been easy. Yet they would find time in the summer to get out and hit the links.

“I think balancing three sports can be a little challenging sometimes,” said Strand, who also plays tennis and basketball. “I think that being in three sports has really taught me how to be mentally strong, especially in golf and in tennis as well. I mean, golf was really big for me when I was younger. I used to go out with my dad all the time and play, so I really found my love for it very young, but I still like to continue to try and put as much time into it as I can.”

Having had coach Kandolin in both golf and basketball, Horning, Strain and Strand said Kandolin definitely has a different approach to his coaching style between sports.

“He's a lot more on the cruise control in golf, Kan(dolin) lets us steer the wheel a little bit,” Strain said. 

As the lone seniors on the team, Horning will play golf at the Division I level next fall at South Dakota State University, while Strand said she will be playing tennis for the Cougars at the University of Sioux Falls. 

Kandolin said the success these seniors have achieved is a strong example for the younger girls on the team.

“I think it's important just for the program, you know, to understand that we do have golfers here and, you know, not just golfers, but extremely talented golfers,” Kandolin said. “They're very motivated and understand they have a chance to possibly repeat. But you know, golf is also a finicky sport that you know you've got to hopefully be playing consistently, and if you can find the right streak at the right time to score well. We have a lot of experience coming back, and we have two extremely solid players, but then the next four that have an opportunity to qualify for state, they all have that ability to score well. So I'm excited for them, and I think they're excited for each other this year.”

While there’s more room on their new state banner to add another year to it, the girls said it will really depend on how they handle tough situations themselves. 

But they like their chances after last season.

“Last year, we really focused on being the best we could, mentally,” Strain said. “Coach Kandolin was really good with getting a few people to come in and speak to us on how important the mental side is. And I think we really took accountability just to implement it into our game, knowing that it's maybe even more important than the physical piece.”

RELATED: Heading into spring season, St. Thomas More’s Rylan Horning is eyeing her third state title