’Cats excel in state tune-up tourneys

By: 
Ron Burtz

The Custer girls golf team had a couple of opportunities to keep its tournament skills sharp between region meet and state last week. The Wildcats came away with some impressive scores and placings at the same time in meets in Box Elder and Hot Springs.
After qualifying as a team for this week’s State A finals in Sioux Falls at the Region 4A tourney May 17, the team traveled to the Douglas Invite last Tuesday and placed second, coming in just three strokes behind the first place Rapid City Stevens JV girls. The Stevens girls had a combined score of 215 strokes and Custer had 218 for its second place finish. They also finished well ahead of the third place team, Belle Fourche (241). Hot Springs was in fourth place with 242 and Red Cloud finished fifth with 262 strokes.
Shauna Zacher was again the leader for the Wildcats. The freshman finished the course in a three-way tie for third place with golfers from Spearfish and Lakota Tech with a score of 52.
Head coach Haley Uphoff said as the team leader again this season Zacher set some goals for herself and has worked hard to meet them. She said the freshman has the ability to brush off a bad day on the course and stay focused on her goals.
Next back at Douglas was Jordyn Uphoff, who tied for fourth place with Madi Jacobson of Stevens with a score of 53.
The next best score for the ’Cats was achieved by Maddie Meyer, who shot a 56. Lauryn Robb was one stroke back at 57. Makenna Allen shot a 59 and Quinn Lewison had 61 strokes.
Uphoff said it has been fun to see her golfers, who “did really well for a young team last year,” continue to improve this spring.
“They have consistently worked really hard and are pushing themselves,” noted Uphoff. “They’re having fun seeing themselves improve.”
The coach also said the fact the team is so evenly matched has presented some unique problems for her. For instance, it has been challenging to know who to send to what meet.
“It’s a good problem for me as a coach,” said Uphoff. “They’re all consistently getting better.”
She said that’s evidence of the amount of time they have spent on the course over the past year.
On Thursday at a special tournament Hot Springs had scheduled as a pre-state tourney tuneup, the Custer golfers came away with a third place finish overall.
Uphoff said several of the Custer golfers set personal bests on the course which is similar to many East River courses such as the one in Sioux Falls where the state tourney is being played.
Uphoff said she was grateful for the tourneys scheduled between regions and state because it’s hard to keep the athletes focused once school is out, the tourists start showing up and they’re starting summer jobs.
“These tournaments in between have helped keep the girls focused and in the swing of things in a tournament mindset,” said Uphoff.
The regional tournament team of Zacher, Robb, Meyer, Uphoff and Lewison competed Monday and Tuesday in the State A tournament held at Bakker Crossing Golf Course in Sioux Falls but no results were available as of press time. Scores and coach’s comments will be published in next week’s issue.

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