Torger Ohe of Edina fills a gap and becomes the Metro Player of the Year in boys golf

Edina junior Torger Ohe made sure the Hornets didn’t leave the Class 3A boys golf state tournament without a trophy this year.

When the back-to-back defending state champion Hornets lost to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the section tournament and failed to qualify for a team berth at state, Ohe felt partially responsible. He had to sink a 12-foot putt to qualify for state without a playoff.

“I did not have the greatest stretch of golf to end the year, and that was a reason we’re not here right now as a team,” he said.

But by the end of Day 1 of the state tournament, Ohe had “stuck to the process,” gained confidence and was 5 under with a two-stroke lead.

With a gallery of Edina supporters following him along the Bunker Hills Golf Club course, Ohe shot 9 under across 36 holes to clinch the individual title.

“His preparation is unmatched in what I’ve seen in any high school player and even any college player, too,” Edina assistant coach Riley Johnson said. “And so not one moment is too big for him.”

In his first trip to the state tournament as an eighth-grader, Ohe tied for 41st. Then, the next year, as a freshman, Ohe tied for 19th and watched Edina teammate Jack Wetzel hoist the individual state trophy.

“It was just an amazing experience, and obviously [I] wanted to be just like him,” Ohe said.

As a sophomore, Ohe was just four strokes back of the winner, tied for third. And now he has one individual state trophy and two team trophies to his name, with one year of high school golf left to play. He’s committed to the Gophers for college; Wetzel played for the Gophers as a sophomore this school year.

Ohe said he would have believed you had you told him he’d be state champion at the end of the spring: “I have a lot of self-belief. I think that was my goal at the start of the year. … Have a chance coming down in the back nine.”