Lady Spartans Compete at Skyline Invitational
By Dan Karpiel
Sports Writer
- Brandi Peter watches her shot from the fairway on number 3.
The Berthoud High school girls golf team kicked off their 2011 season on Monday morning at the Twin Peaks Golf Course in Longmont. The Lady Spartans finished with a team score of 339 strokes, good enough for only 20th place in the 23-team Skyline Invite.
The Lady Spartans are a young team largely inexperienced in the rigors of varsity golf competition. Berthoud’s team on Monday consisted of two sophomores – Hannah Haggis and Amber Newby – and two juniors – Alyxis Petty and Brandi Peter – with all but Peter playing in their first varsity tournament.
“The three girls who had not played varsity before really stepped up today. They improved their stroke average by about 15 strokes over last year and I’m really, really pleased about that,” said Berthoud Golf Coach Mike King.
Haggis and Petty each shot a 116 on the par-71 course and were pleased with their rounds. “I feel great, that (116) is about 22 strokes better than last year,” Haggis said with an ear-to-ear grin and added, “I was really feeling my 6-iron on the back nine.” When asked how she felt about her 116, Petty was equally delighted saying, “I feel pretty good, that’s the best I’ve ever shot!”
Newby, whose team-high 122 stroke score was dropped when summing the team score, felt she left some strokes out on the course and has ample room to improve. “It was okay, but I’m pretty sure I can do a lot better than I did today,” the sophomore said. She explained she some trouble hitting straight consistently but was mostly pleased with her putting and play around the greens. Newby improved as the round went on as she completed her second nine with ten fewer strokes than her first nine.
Peter, the lone Lady Spartan golfer with varsity experience, took a team-low 107 strokes to get around the Twin Peaks course. Yet Peter, who played in state as both a freshman and sophomore, was less than content with the score she turned in. “I’m not very happy with (my score), I had higher expectations,” she said after finishing her round.
Peter went on to explain that she has been experiencing a small “fluke” in her swing over the last week. She said that on the 13th hole she discovered her problem, corrected it and played well on the final six holes of the round. “I was happy not with my score but with figuring out what’s been going wrong and fixing my swing.”
Of his star golfer Coach King said, “With Brandi there is some work to be done. It puts a little sense of urgency in what we’re doing with her, now it’s time to rev up the motor. And of course she knows that.” Peter said she will be working on her golf game regularly over the next couple of weeks, including during Berthoud’s spring break, in hopes of continuing to improve.
The Lady Spartans next varsity golf tournament is the Mountain View League Meet held on Wednesday, April 6 at the Olde Course in Loveland.
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