Bennie golf breaks opening-round and second-round school records

The CSB golf team has placed in the top four at every tournament this fall with their highest finish as second place in both their home tournament and the St. Kate’s Fall Invite last weekend. Last weekend, the Bennies broke multiple school records. Senior Catherine Jance broke the 36-hole individual scoring record by three. Additionally, the team broke the school’s 18-hole team record by four and the 36-hole team record by 12. The team is now preparing for the MIAC Championships, which will take place Oct. 4-6 at Braemar Golf Course in Edina, Minn. Jance said the team has been having a strong season, and they’ve been steady throughout each tournament.

“We finished our regular season with a strong performance by breaking some school records,” Jance said.

Jance attributes the team’s success this season to their focus during practice.

“We focus on what we can improve on while also improving the strong parts of our game. If we’re struggling, we reach out to our coaches, so we can make changes in practice for the tournaments,” Jance said.

In preparation for the MIAC Championship, Jance said the team will continue to focus on the areas where they can get some strokes back, especially in the short game.

“We’re going to continue what we’ve been doing throughout practice and tournaments,” Jance said.

Jance’s favorite moments of the season have been spending time with her teammates while breaking the school record and seeing her teammates have strong tournament performances.

“We’re very close this year and it’s been really cool seeing how far we’ve come as a team,” Jance said.

Senior Maggie Roth said the season has been going well for the team.

“Individually, everyone has had great performances and achievements this year,” Roth said.

A big key to the team’s success has been the effort they’ve been putting into practice.

“We have fun at practice, but we always have this focus,” Roth said.

The team is always working on something specific.

“At tournaments, you play your game but also know what you did wrong so you can focus on it during practice. Our practices are also very competitive to get us ready for tournaments,” Roth said.

One of Roth’s favorite moments from the season has been seeing the team up at the top, often in the top two or three. Roth said they’ve been playing really good against schools who have beat them in the past, and this year they’re much closer. Going into the MIAC Championship, Roth said the short game is important for both her and the team.

“For me and a lot of people, we’ve been working on the mental game and mental side of it. I often get in my head on the back nine holes, so in practice I’ve been putting pressure on myself to prepare for when I’m in this during tournament play,” Roth said.

As a senior, Roth wants to have fun for the remaining part of the season.

“We only get so many years playing this sport, so why not have fun doing it,” Roth said.

Head coach Daryl Schomer said the team has had a historic season.

“[This was] one of the best falls we’ve ever had in school history,” Schomer said.

Schomer said the team’s keys to success this season have largely been team chemistry and supporting one another.

“This is a close-knit bunch and they’re all supportive of each other. Everyone shows up and puts in the work. Everyone is working really hard, which is nice to see,” Schomer said.

Schomer said there’s been a good balance of having fun and being serious during practice. To prepare for the MIAC Championships, the team is working on managing and handling their nerves.

“We want to stay calm while facing adversity, so we continue to put ourselves in pressure situations in practice. It’s important to have your mind in the right place and be able to handle adversity because challenges will come for everybody,” Schomer said.

Schomer’s favorite moment of the season was their home tournament because this was their first tournament of the fall season and they finished in second.

“To be in contention for winning our home tournament was amazing. Being able to come out and play like that for our first tournament was fun. In the past, we haven’t
always performed well our home tournament, so it was really fun to be in the mix this time around,” Schomer said.