Eagles golf through bad shots

By the end of the two days, each golfer shot three 18-hole rounds. Chadron State finished 11th after 54 holes with a score card of 329-324-340-993. 

The Eagles had finished their first round of their season in ninth of 19 teams, holding 328 strokes after the first 18 holes. 

“We just didn’t meet our expectations that we had set for ourselves,” Head Women’s Golf Coach John Ritzen said. “But it’s still early in the year and we’ll bounce back and play well moving forward. I don’t really know why but we just didn’t seem to have it this weekend.” 

Despite the struggles, Kenzey Kanno, sophomore of Michell, remained under 80 strokes through the first two rounds, with 79 strokes for both. Finishing out the third round and leading the Eagles, Kanno finished 21st, scoring 81 in the third round and a total of 239. 

“We have so many great golfers on our team and we are so competitive with each that we push each other each day to be better, so to be able to lead this team is a big accomplishment,” Kanno said. 

After the first round, Alpine Hickstein, junior of Chadron, tied at 10th with 79 strokes. Following the end of the tournament, she finished with 243 strokes, scoring 80 in the second round and 84 in the third. 

Allison Acosta, sophomore of Oro Valley, Arizona, competed as an individual and was the Eagle with the third lowest score at 84-85-82-251, and finished tied for 59th. Her score remained close to what she was averaging last year. 

“When we had a couple of bad holes, we just lost our confidence and kind of let it snowball,” Ritzen said. “We just have to stay confident and understand that some bad shots will happen throughout the round.” 

The Eagles will travel to Rapid City, South Dakota, for their next tournament, the Hardrocker Invite starting at 9 a.m., Monday.  

“That’s our closest competition of the year because we don’t host a home tournament,” Ritzen said. “So, the girls are excited to have some of their friends be able to come and watch them.”