By Marisa Dawson

The Bennington girls golf team faced a pair of challenging courses last week, competing in the Beatrice Invite on Tuesday, August 25, before returning to the course Thursday for the Crusader Classic at Benson Golf Course.

In Beatrice, the Badgers finished third in the Class A division, which featured five teams. Makaila Behrens, Katie Kos and Cloie Clark each earned medals for their performances.

For Head Coach Ben Deines, the tournament provided another opportunity for the team to compete against a difficult course and continue developing throughout the season.

“Really, golf is golf and so whether we are playing in class A or class B it doesn’t matter,” Deines said. “We are really playing against ourselves and the course, we just happened to be paired up with some different teams.”

The Beatrice course presented its own challenges, particularly with thick rough that made the course play difficult. Still, Deines said he saw his team continue to compete.

“I saw the girls compete and battle on a tough course,” he said. “We like to play tough courses during the season because we know that it will make us better in the long run.”

Deines highlighted continued improvement from several of his golfers, including Kos (pictured below) and Behrens.

“Katie played a lot better and I think she will continue to improve throughout the season,” he said.

He added that Behrens is close to putting together some especially strong rounds.

“Makaila hit the ball really well and just had a few swings that cost her 3-4 strokes,” Deines said. “She is really close to shooting some really good scores.”

Two days later, the Badgers competed in the Crusader Classic, hosted by Marian at Benson Golf Course. While Deines said it was not the team’s strongest performance overall, he saw several individual positives to build on.

“It wasn’t our best yesterday but there were a few things to celebrate,” he said.

Among those highlights was a personal best round for Grace Pfeifer (pictured below).

“Grace Pfeifer shot her best round of the year so it was awesome to see her improve,” Deines said.

Kos also continued her recent progress, recording a birdie on the ninth hole and breaking 100 for the second consecutive round.

“Katie birdied 9, which has one of the toughest greens on the course and she broke 100 for the second straight round,” Deines said.

Benson’s fast, undulating greens created another challenge for the Badgers, particularly as the team worked to adjust to the speed and movement of the course. However, the experience will also be valuable as Bennington prepares to return to Benson in a couple of weeks for its home invitational.

“Benson has awesome greens but they were a little tricky,” Deines said. “Our girls struggled on the fast undulating greens but it is something we can improve on.”

The team has shown stretches of strong play, Deines said, but limiting mistakes remains an important area of focus.

“All of the girls have good stretches of holes but then have 1 or 2 holes on each side that just derails their round,” he said. “We need to continue to work on limiting mistakes and simplifying the game.”

That includes learning how to minimize the damage when a shot puts a player in a difficult position.

“When we get in trouble we need to find a way to limit the damage,” Deines said.

As the season continues, Bennington will place a particular emphasis on its short game and performance around the green. Deines said improvement from 100 yards and in could make a significant difference on the scorecard.

“Most of your strokes in golf come from 100 yards and in and we are really going to work hard to improve in this area,” he said.

At the varsity level, the team’s goal is to get on the green and into the hole in three strokes or fewer when playing from within 100 yards.

“If we can do that, all of the girls’ scores are going to drop dramatically,” Deines said.

With several weeks still ahead, Deines believes consistent improvement across the lineup could put the Badgers in a strong position as the season progresses.

“If we can get each girl to improve by 4-5 strokes consistently in the next month, we will be in a good spot,” he said.

The Badgers will now continue working on their short game and limiting costly mistakes as they prepare for the next stretch of the season, including a return to Benson Golf Course for their home invitational.