By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Led by senior Paige Murdoch, the Union Grove High School girls’ golf team hopes to improve this year on its 2011 seventh-place finish in the Southern Lakes Conference.
Last year, Murdoch was named the SLC Player of the Year, and earned medalist honors at the SLC Tournament. She fell just short of qualifying for state, after advancing to sectional competition.
Head coach Eric Swanson indicated he has six returning letterwinners from the 15 girls who came out for the squad. Of those 15, two are seniors, three juniors, seven sophomores and three are freshmen.
Besides Murdoch, the top returning golfers are junior Rachel Pena, and sophomores Jorey Staven, Emily Garbie, Tara Manteufel and Alyssa Shiffler. Freshman Mari Suokko will also be one of the top golfers on the team.
Last year, the team finished seventh in the SLC.
“This year, I think we will have a shot at being one of the top teams in the conference,” Swanson said. “It really depends on how well our No. 3 through No. 5 do.”
Swanson sees Westosha Central as the team to beat in the SLC.
In practices, Swanson said the girls have had great attitudes and a strong desire to get better.
“Even though we are a pretty young team, we have a lot of girls that have put in the time and effort to improve,” Swanson noted. “If they continue to work hard at getting better, we could be a pretty good team by the end of the season.”
Swanson is in his 16th season coaching the Bronco girls. He has no assistants.
The Broncos began their season Aug. 9 at the Elkhorn Invitational played at the Evergreen Golf Club.
In the four-person scramble format, Union Grove was fourth out of 12 teams. Six of the teams were from the SLC, with Westosha the only team to finish higher than the Broncos. They were third.
Murdoch, Suokko, Staven and Manteufel combined for a 72.
“Overall, I was very pleased with how we played,” Swanson said. “We hit the ball very well, especially considering how early it is in the season.”
Other than a double-bogey on the 13th hole, the team played very consistent golf.
“Our putting could have been better, as we had a few opportunities to make birdie putts that we didn’t take advantage of,” Swanson said, adding, though, that the girls showed a lot of promise.
Janesville Parker won the event, carding a 67.
On Aug. 15, the girl golfers played in a Westosha Central Invitational at Hawks View Golf Course.
Next week, they will participate in the Racine Case Invitational at Wanaki Golf Course on Monday, Aug. 20.
On Tuesday, Aug. 21, they will host Waterford at 1 p.m. at Ives Grove Golf Links.
On Thursday, Aug. 23, at 1 p.m., they will take on Westosha Central at Brighton Dale Links.
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