SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets are having an incredible spring and have already set numerous top ten marks in program history with their performances. These performances have led BHSU to setting records and entering the final regular season tournament of the year feeling motivated. They are now headed to Rapid City, S.D. where they will play two 18-hole rounds at The Golf Club at Red Rock with one last chance to get themselves ready for the RMAC tournament.


TOURAMENT DETAILS
Dates: April 13-14
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota – The Golf Club at Red Rock
Time: Monday will be a tee time start that begins at 9:00 with BHSU golfers teeing off then.
Tuesday will be a shotgun start beginning at 9 AM.
Live Scoring: Live Scoring will be on Golf Genius at the link above.
GGID: 26SDMINESINV
Par: Par 72
 
BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• The Yellow Jackets will play in the regular season finale after having an incredible start to spring season. Not only did the Yellow Jackets break the D2 era 36-hole record in their season opener in Arizona, but they then turned around and on a day where it was cold and windy in Sioux Falls, they broke the record for most D2 teams beat in a single tournament in program history. The Yellow Jackets posted a 36-hole score of 657 (+81) while shooting an 18-hole score of 329 (+41) and 328 (+40) in back-to-back rounds. The first round put them in fifth place in the tournament, nearly beating national tournament contenders Augustana and Southeast Oklahoma State. Despite, some heavy pressure, BHSU defeated six D2 schools en route to a fifth place finish out of 12 teams in Sioux Falls. This included defeating South Dakota Mines and SMSU, both teams who had beaten them earlier this year.
• BHSU broke the program 36-hole record at the SMSU Classic in Arizona and also put both of their 18-hole scores in the top six all time in program history. The Yellow Jackets were able to put up a 36-hole score of 650 (+90) over the two rounds. This included rounds of 323 (+43) and 327 (+47) in each of the two rounds. BHSU's previous school record for 36-holes was set at the 2024 Swan Memorial, where BHSU shot 353. The 323 on day two is tied for second in D2 era history only behind 320 from the 2024 Yellowjacket Fall Invitational
• This Yellow Jackets have played in a South Dakota Mines hosted tournament each of the last 10 semesters. During those ten tournaments, BHSU has never beaten South Dakota Mines the home team. BHSU has generally had some trouble in Rapid, but the fact they are coming off a win over SDM provides them good momentum
• BHSU was picked to finish 10^th in the RMAC in the RMAC Women's Golf Preseason Coaches' Poll finishing ahead of Adams State and just behind rivals Chadron State and South Dakota Mines.
• The Yellow Jackets finished eighth place at the YFI to end their fall with the team shooting a 680 (+104) over the two days in Billings in which they dropped a spot on day two. BHSU was very close to cracking the top ten 18 hole scores after the first round when they shot a fantastic 335 (+47) and sat in seventh place after the first day before shooting a 345 (+57) on day two.
• Shelbi Gardner is looking to continue one of the best freshman year's in BHSU history after averaging an 83.4 through 14 rounds. She led the team with a 165 (+21) over the two days at the Travis Roy Memorial Invite and shot her second round in the 70s this season with a 79 on day one in Sheridan. This came a week after she shot 77 (+5) on day one of the Swan Memorial, which was tied for the seventh best round in BHSU history and the second best by a freshman. She then finished by shooting 82 (+10) on day two to score a 159 (+15) for a 36-hole score that would put her tied for sixth all time in BHSU history and the best 36-hole score by a freshman in program history. She finished 20^th in the Briarwood with a 174 (+30). Starting her spring, Gardner played incredibly well at the SMSU Classic finishing in the top 25 at 24^th with a score of 160 (+20). She was one of two girls to break 80 in Arizona shooting a 79 (+9) on day one and an 81 (+11) on day two. She is coming off another solid performance in Sioux Falls, where she shot a 163 (+19), which was second on the team and 22^nd in the tournament. She remained consistent, posting an 81 (+9) in round one and an 82 (+10) in round two.
• Abbi Beld is coming off an impressive fall season, where she averaged 83.8 over nine rounds. She had a 170 (+26) at Spearfish that put her top 25 in the tournament. She will be trying to continue her solid year so far in Billings, including an 83 (+11) in the first round of the Swan Memorial before she withdrew on the second day. She was off to a brilliant start shooting a 40 (+4) on the front nine in her only round and still shot a great 18-hole score with only one hole worse than bogey. She shot a 174 (+30) in her final fall tournament at the Yellowjacket Fall Shootout, which put her in 31^st place. Beld was easily the team leader in Arizona where she shot a 156 (+16) 36- hole score where she finished fifth in BHSU's D2 era for 36-hole score. This included an impressive 76 (+6) on day two of the tournament where she was even through 13 holes. Beld had a down performance at the Augie and posted a 36-hole score of 169 (+25) despite posting nine hole scores of 39 on the front nine in both rounds. She did bounce back nicely in round two shooting an 82 (+10) to finish inside the top 40.
• Katie Jorgenson played in all six tournaments this fall and is sitting at an 85.7 scoring average through 14 rounds. She had her second best tournament of the season in Spearfish shooting a 167 (+23) over the two days and finishing 18^th in the Homestake Invite. She shot a 83 and an 84 over the two days which were the two best rounds of the tournament by any Yellow Jacket. She was able to put together a strong 84 (+12) at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational on day two of the tournament to put her with a 171 (+27) and in a 34^th place finish. She had a top 15 finish in the Briarwood Shootout, when she posted a 170 (+26) over two days to finish in 15^th. She had a season-best performance at Elmwood in Sioux Falls when she posted a 162 (+18) over the 36-hole scores to finish in a tie for 20^th. She started her tournament posting a 77 (+5) in the first round, which put her in the top five of the tournament. This included sitting at +2 thru 10 holes. That 77 is tied for eighth all time in BHSU's D2 history.
• Olivia McCandless just got done making her 2025-26 debut as an individual at the SMSU Classic in Arizona. The senior did not play in the fall, but ended her 2024-25 season on a hot streak finishing with two top ten finishes in her final three tournaments. She posted a 164 (+22) at the 2025 Hardrocker Spring Invite for a third place finish and then posted a 164 (+20) for a ninth place finish at the DWU Spring Invite. This included an 80 (+9) on day two of the HSI. She began her spring with a solid 170 (+30) over two days where she shot an 85 (+15) each day of the tournament with 14 pars. She then had a breakout tournament of the season at the Augie Spring Invite, when she tied Gardner with a 163 (+19) over the two rounds to finish in a tie for 22^nd with Gardner. She posted a crucial 79 (+7) on round two that included a 37 (+1) on the front nine.
• Leyni Stavola is looking to bounce back in the spring after a up-and-down 12 rounds, where she has averaged a 89.5 over those 12 rounds. She shot a 196 (+52) in the Homestake Invite. Stavola broke that with a 193 (+49) in Billings at the Yellowjacket Fall Invite to end her fall season. She tied her career-low 18-hole score at the Swan Memorial when she shot a 79 on day two. Stavola did bounce back and got her scoring average under 90 on day one of the SMSU Classic when she shot an 82 (+12) on the first day while being +1 through the first 12 holes. She followed that up with an 87 (+17) on day two. She shot her best round to par of the season at Augustana when she shot a 172 (+28) to finish in a tie for 39^th, putting all BHSU players inside the top 40. She shot a pretty good 85 (+13) in the final round.
• Randy Doran is currently in his second season as head coach at BHSU and is looking to continue breaking records and setting new lows.

 
BLACK HILLS STATE TEAM LINEUP
 

Position	Name	Tee Time
1.	Abbi Beld	9:40 a.m.
2.	Shelbi Gardner	9:30 a.m.
3.	Katie Jorgenson	9:20 a.m.
4.	Olivia McCandless	9:10 a.m.
5.	Leyni Stavola	9:00 a.m.