April 25, 2024

Personal bests not enough for CMB-CN girls golf

By Troy Hyde

Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s Courtney Clapper chips onto the No. 8 green during the season opener against Roland-Story at Twin Anchors Golf Course in Colo on Monday. Clapper tied for fourth on the day with a 51. (Troy Hyde)

COLO — The Collins-Maxwell/Baxter-Colo-NESCO girls golf team had little trouble with its long shots as they opened the season Monday night.

Unfortunately, the Raiders struggled with the shots that require a little more touch.

Roland-Story was a little bit better around the green at Twin Anchors Golf Course and came away with a 194-220 win over CMB/C-N despite the Raiders turning in three personal-best scores.

“We drove with them pretty well. But around the green, it just wasn’t good enough,” CMB coach Eric Padget said. “We have a lot to build on and a lot to work on.”

Padget was unsure what the main issue was with the short game immediately following the meet. But more practice should help.

“We’ll have to just practice it. We need to get the pitches down,” Padget said. “I saw several times where their pitch shots were short of the green, which maybe means they had some fear of putting it on the back side of the green. They need to just overcome that.”

The Raiders were led by Courtney Clapper and Zoee Risdal, who both shot 51. Abbie Ericson carded a 54 and Halley Buseman fired a 64. Avery Hlavacek and Brynne Pritchard both played junior varsity rounds and finished with a 60 and 68, respectively.

Medalist honors went to Roland-Story’s Jess Coglan, who won the meet with a 44. Bridget Conannon carded a 46 and Jacey Ellis had a 48 for the Norse. The final counting score was Brooke Ehrenburg’s 56.

“I was pretty happy with how the freshmen played,” Padget said. “Abbie did a great job in my No. 4, Halley did a great job at No. 5 and Avery and Brynne did a great job as JV golfers today.”

The Raiders played without the services of No. 3 golfer Alex Hlavacek. She missed the meet due to a back injury that Padget considers day-to-day. Alex has been practicing regularly but the muggy weather may have caused her back to stiffen.

“The girls played in the same order that I thought they would,” Padget said. “It hurt not having Alex tonight. Hopefully we can get hurt back soon.”

The Raiders won’t play again until April 13 at West Marshall. That meet begins at 4:15 p.m.