Wildcat golfers get into the swing of season

By: 
Nathan Steele

The Custer High School Wildcat girls golf team competed in the Sturgis Invite at Boulder Canyon last Friday and at the Custer Invitational at Rocky Knolls Golf Course Monday.
Head coach Haley Uphoff said she was happy with the turnout at both meets. In Sturgis, the team finished fourth with a score of 412. They were behind Saint Thomas More (STM) at 363, Spearfish at 371 and Rapid City Stevens at 394. Uphoff reported that she was pleased to finish behind only one other Class A school, STM, at the Sturgis meet. Both Spearfish and Stevens are larger class AA schools.
The team’s high placements came in part from the strong efforts of golfers  Amber Layton and Shuana Zacher.
In Sturgis, Layton cracked the top 10, finishing in eighth place with a score of 93.
In Custer, Layton and Zacher came in sixth and eighth, respectively with scores at 88 and 92.
“It’s always nice to have our home meet,” said Uphoff.
The team finished in second place behind STM, a major competitor for the team.
Uphoff also identified the Belle Fourche team as strong competition for the Wildcats and was happy to finish ahead of them at both previous meets.
Looking ahead, the team will be competing at the pre-conference tournament in Hot Springs on Thursday and then back to Hot Springs for the Black Hills Conference on Monday.
“Hot Springs is one of my favorite courses,” said Uphoff, who also golfed for the Wildcats in high school.
“Our short game is what I see us struggling with the most,” said Uphoff, who said the team hasn’t been able to get much practice with greens since they were just put in last Friday.
Uphoff said the team is looking to end up in the top five teams at the conference tournament.

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