BH, LA GOLFERS TEE OFF

    Britton-Hecla and Langford Area golfers opened their seasons at Webster last week Tuesday.
    McKenna Heer was Britton-Hecla’s top finisher, placing ninth in the girls 32-golfer varsity division with a 114.  Sage Ford was 16th at 125, Corrine Bosse 26th at 148, and Kya McLaen 31st at 171.
    In the boys varsity bracket Jace Rein led B-H with a 102, finishing 24th in the 47-golfer field.  Braun Kadoun was 28th with a 106, Carter Grobe 30th at 108, and Nate Schuller 39th at 115.
    “The golfers got of taste of the real deal on both levels this past week,” said B-H coach Ryan Nack.  “Any nerves going into a golf meet this year have been addressed and now we can focus on executing consistent golf shots. Webster is a great golf course to understand how important chipping onto the green really is. Maintaining a shot routine while playing ready golf is a focus we would like to continue to strive for.” 
    Braden Small led the LA squad, placing 21st with a 97.  Conner Glines 24th at 99, Ryder Smith was 32nd at 109, and Rennan Bruns 47th at 137.  Shaina Kleeman was the only LA golfer in the girls varsity division, placing 27th with a 149.
    Langford Area also competed at Ipswich on Saturday.  Small led LA with a 107 and Smith a 143.
    “We have a lot of kids that started to play golf for the first time this year, so we have spent a lot of time on rules and the basics of the game of golf,” said LA boss Michael Alberts.  “It was nice for these golfers to get out and actually golf in a golf meet and find a starting point for each one. We were able to find out strengths of each golfer along with finding areas we need to focus on more. One of the main areas we need to focus on is the short game, chipping and putting. They have done a good job so far and we are just looking at improvement each and every time we play golf.”   
    B-H had three junior high boys golfers finish in the top three of their divisions.  Levi Mills was second with a 58 and Blayden Downs third at 59 among seventh grade golfers for the nine holes.  Liam Peters was eighth at 65, Brady Heitkamp ninth at 74, and Corbin Dawson 13th at 84.  In the eighth grade bracket Charles Schuller was third with a 64.
    Kloe McLaen placed second in the seventh grade girls division with a 74, and Alexis Bolzer was fourth at 83. 
    Britton-Hecla will host a junior high meet on Tuesday and high school golfers will compete in a rescheduled meet at Leola that same day.  Langford Area will compete in the Lake Region Conference Meet at Rolling Hills in Aberdeen on Thursday and junior high golfers will attend the Britton meet Tuesday.