River Falls senior Aidan Carufel was one of six players from the Big Rivers Conference to qualify for the 2023 state golf championships, but he was the only player from the league who nobody expected to be there.

Less than three weeks ago, Carufel was a high-end JV player looking to earn the fifth and final place on River Falls’ varsity roster. He eventually earned his spot and then went on a three-week heater that will live in the annals of Wildcat golf lore forever.

Shortly after being promoted to varsity, Carufel shot an 83 at the regional tournament before posting a career-best round of 79 at the Division 1 sectional in Marshfield on Tuesday, May 30. He shot River Falls’ lowest score of the day, as he finished tied for sixth individually, which punched his ticket to the state championships in Kohler the following week.

In the years that River Falls head coach Tim LaVold has led the program, he’s never seen anything resembling what Carfuel accomplished this year. He went from JV player battling for varsity recognition to the 18th green of the D1 state championships on Tuesday, June 6.

Carufel’s Cinderella-like run to the biggest stage in Wisconsin high school golf is anecdotal evidence that LaVold will use as a teaching moment for the rest of his career. He spoke about how Carfuel’s magical season will impact future Wildcat golfers.

“Aidan wasn’t the most seasoned player, but for two years he kept telling me how he was going to make the team,” LaVold said. “I will tell kids that no matter where you are at the moment, if you want something to happen, it can with hard work and a great attitude. On any given day in life, you can make something happen if you follow the process and believe you can do it.”

When Carufel arrived at Blackwolf Run, he got his first taste of state championship-caliber course conditions, something he’d never experienced before. It didn’t help that he was robbed of a practice round because River Falls’ graduation was on the same day as the official practice round.

“Unfortunately in River Falls the practice round at state falls on the same day as graduation,” LaVold said. “The other challenge was the practice putting green was a much different speed than the greens on the course, so it took him a while to adjust. To be honest, we were just happy to be there with Aidan and enjoy the great accomplishment of making it to state.”

Carufel is a multi-sport athlete who has played in several high-stakes playoff basketball games. He is no stranger to pressure, but there is nothing quite like having to hit an opening tee shot in front of hundreds of people.

The senior state qualifier was justifiably nervous as he stepped up to that first tee. Carufel hit the shot and plotted his way around the course, but was ultimately impacted throughout the day by the nerves spawned by competing in his debut state tournament round.

“Aidan found out that big tournament golf is very difficult mentally,” LaVold said. “He told me during the round that the first tee was one of the first times he has ever been nervous. That caused him to have a difficult time controlling his swing and his score reflected that challenge.”

Carufel played the opening nine holes in 12-over par as he posted a 48 at the turn. He settled into the round and played the first five holes of the back nine just one-over par. While he battled nerves, Carufel didn’t let the early adversity completely derail his round.

“One of the great things about Aidan is that he handles the challenge well by not getting upset with himself,” LaVold said. “He just tries to do his best to hit the next shot. He settled down and played his normal golf on the back nine.”

He ultimately posted an opening-round 89, which earned a tie for 94th overall heading into the next morning. In total, eight players shot lower than 75 on the opening day. Not a single player did it during the second round.

The second day featured heavily increased wind speeds that made judging distances on an already-challenging course nearly impossible. Despite those conditions, Carufel shot 89 and improved his overall standing to a tie for 93rd.

“Aidan told me it was by far the hardest course he has ever played,” LaVold said. “It was very windy and that made it difficult to control yardages. Aidan hit the ball better on Tuesday, but just wasn't able to control his distance in the wind and that led to the higher score. I thought he played as well as he could on the second day.”

Although Carufel may not have returned to River Falls with hardware, he can hang his hat on the fact that he put together the most improbable run to the state golf championships in River Falls High School history.