By Tiffany L. Rehbein
Two fourth place finishes and the coach is happy.
Its the 50 strokes that the MSU-Northern Skylights womens golf team knocked off last years total that pleased head coach Jessica Peters.
Its senior Brooke Barkus career-high score of 83 that she shot at Helena that pleased Peters.
At Carroll College, I was very pleased with the way they played, Peters said. The Skylights, in their second year as a varsity sport, improved on last years 410 with Fridays 366. I was very proud of the way they played. There is a huge improvement from where we were at last year and where were at this year.
Also at the Frontier Conference match-up at Carroll, Northerns No. 1 golfer Shanda Lammerding of Havre shot an 87, Ristina Johnston shot a 100 and Jami Jackson shot a 102.
Peters said she was pleased with what each girl shot Friday.
Lewis-Clark State won the womens division with a score of 339, Rocky Mountain College finished in the No. 2 position with a 347 and Western Montana College finished a step above the Skylights with a score of 354.
Doug Sheppard, who is helping coach the Skylights this fall, has been helping the women to straighten out their golf swings. He is also helping with some chipping.
Putting posed a problem for the Skylights over the weekend.
We three-putted several times, so we are going to focus on straightening out our putting situation, Peters said.
The Skylights returned to Havre Saturday and netted another fourth place finish.
The goals at the Beaver Creek tournament included keeping individual scores low.
We have a tough course here, its a lot tougher than what people think it is, Peters said.
The opponents at the Frontier Conference tournament were expected to shoot higher scores and they did. However, the Skylights also shot higher scores.
Lammerding led the Skylights with a 93, which landed her an eighth place tie. Barkus shot a 94 that was good for a three-way 10th place tie.
Johnston and Jackson shot a 108 and 112, respectively.
Rocky Mountain College and Lewis-Clark State swapped spots, this time finishing one and two, with 354 and 361, respectively. Western placed in the No. 4 spot with a score of 384.
This was good in that we know where we stand and we know where we need to be, Peters said.
The Skylights travel to Butte Friday for another conference match-up.
