Bemidji girls golf takes second, freshmen lead season-best finish

Freshmen Olivia Grand and Addi Bluhm are already changing the ceiling for Bemidji High School girls golf. Their top-six finishes powered the Lumberjacks to second place at Friday’s home invite at Bemidji Town and Country Club, where Bemidji posted a season-best score.

That matters because this was not just a good afternoon on a familiar course. It was the clearest sign yet that Bemidji’s lineup is getting stronger from the bottom up, with underclassmen producing varsity results now instead of waiting for a future season. In a sport where consistency usually decides the long haul, a season-best team score at this stage suggests the group is building more than a one-day spike.

The meet also carried a hometown feel. BTCC, listed at 2425 Birchmont Beach Rd NE in Bemidji, gave local fans a front-row look at a team that is starting to define itself through its younger players. Grand and Bluhm were the headliners, but the bigger story is the shape of the roster around them: Bemidji is getting meaningful scoring from freshmen who can already hold their own against older competition.

That kind of growth fits a program culture that prizes improvement as much as placement. The team’s coach has a standing tradition of buying ice cream for the six players who help set a new season team record, a small reward that reflects a larger message: progress counts, and it gets noticed. For a youthful roster that has to survive a long spring schedule, that sort of recognition can matter as much as any trophy.

Bemidji’s golf teams have stayed busy across the region this spring, with recent girls meets at Pokegama and Monticello and boys results from Willmar adding to the season’s pace. But Friday’s finish stood out because it showed what Bemidji could look like next season if Grand, Bluhm and the rest of the group keep moving in the same direction. The Lumberjacks are not just hanging around the scoreboard anymore; they are building toward a deeper, more competitive future.