By Travis Smola
The girls’ golf team at Vicksburg High School may not have finished well this year, but it has gained valuable experience needed to reboot the program.
The team ended up finishing last in the conference with a sixth-place finish in the final conference meet, but it did improve their scores down the stretch. Earlier in the season, the team traded finishing last place back and forth with Dowagiac. But when Vicksburg hosted its own jamboree matchup, they defeated both Dowagiac and Three Rivers.
It just wasn’t enough to get the lady Bulldogs out of last place, but it did give something to build upon.
“We just didn’t have the experience to compete right away,” head coach Rob Johnson said.
For Johnson, considering the fact the team only had one player with three years of experience in golf and the skills required for the game, it’s a good start in rebuilding the program. He said he saw improvements as the season continued to progress.
“By the end of the year, their (scores) started coming down pretty good,” Johnson said.
Now Johnson is hoping he can retain some of the players and get them out on the course to build skills over the summer.
“The big thing for me is if they are coming back next year, hopefully we can get some more experience after a year of practice,” Johnson said.
Even though the team didn’t do well, Johnson said it was a good group of girls and it was a positive experience working with them. “I had fun working with them,” Johnson said.