Colfax girls’ golf improving in final weeks of regular season

By Cara L. Dempski

The Lady Vikings’ golf team was scheduled to play their final conference match of 2017 this past Monday evening and is now focusing on competing in the upcoming WIAA regional tournament.

This year, as in previous years, Colfax attended Middle Border matches for competition leading up to the tournament season. The Vikings started out their final week of conference play in Amery last Tuesday, September 12, where they finished sixth out of 10 schools with a total score of 220.

They played another match three days later at Hammond’s Pheasant Ridge. The Lady Vikings struggled with the course in the Baldwin-Woodville-hosted meet, scoring 231 to finish ninth out of 10 squads.

Colfax’s final regular-season match was to be played this past Monday evening, September 18 at Ellsworth Country Club. Results from this match were not available prior to publication.

With the final Middle Border matches under their belts, the Lady Vikings now turn their focus to the Division 2 regional tournament which will be hosted by Baldwin-Woodville next Wednesday, September 27 at Pheasant Hills. It will be Colfax’s third time playing the Hammond course this season. Should the team, or individual players, win through to sectionals, the Vikings would travel to Frederic October 2.

Amery

Viking girls’ golf coach Ryan Krall said he felt the team’s score did not reflect how the girls played at Amery September 12.

“I felt we played a lot better than we scored,” he explained. “Penalty shots really hurt us tonight, but they also affected the rest of the field, as the course played very difficult.”

Despite the difficulty, the Colfax ladies once again wound up scoring in the middle of the Middle Border pack to take sixth out of 10 teams with 220 points.

Sophomore Abby DeMoe appeared to snap back after a couple nights of playing “off” games, taking second place overall after shooting just 42 over nine holes. Haley Seston shook off feeling sick earlier in the day to score just 55.

Morgan Schleusner finished in 58 strokes, Abby Klueckmann scored 65, and Amanda Christianson, the team’s lone senior, rounded out the score with 67 strokes.

Krall said he and the team will be focus on shoring up short game issues to play their best golf at the regional match in Frederic.

“This team has a lot of potential, and I think can be a sectional qualifier if we play well,” he said. “Hopefully we are able to make it happen.”

Baldwin-Woodville

Ryan Krall said his girls’ golf team had high hopes entering their match at Hammond’s Pheasant Ridge last Friday, September 15.

“We have shot our two best rounds of the year there so far this season,” Krall explained. “But really couldn’t get anything going.”

The Lady Vikings fought the entire course, but could not get their scores down on the familiar terrain.

Abby DeMoe again led the team with just 50 strokes over nine holes, and Morgan Schleusner finished just behind her with 54. Krall said Schleusner had a nice day, and knows the player has the skills to be one of the better players in the league.

Senior Amanda Christianson swung for a final score of 59, and McKenna Yingst, who Krall indicated did a nice job filling in as a varsity player for the first time this season, finished with a 68.

Abby Klueckmann rounded out the varsity team with 76 strokes.

The first-place team for the day was New Richmond, who played the course in just 175 shots.