By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – First-year coach Jenessa Bonikowske has a simple goal in mind for this year’s Marshfield High School girls golf team.
“Our No. 1 team goal is, in the Clover Valley Golf League, try to be one of the top teams and compete with the teams that are more established.”
Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Stanley-Boyd, Osseo-Fairchild, Neillsville and Eau Claire Regis make up the golf-only conference, and although the Tigers return three golfers, they are relatively inexperienced compared to some of their competition.
Marshfield opens its season with a two-day tournament in Wisconsin Dells on Thursday and Friday, playing courses at Trappers Turn and Christmas Mountain Resort.
Bonikowske said she is pleased with how much some of the girls have improved compared to last season – and even in the first few days of organized practice.
“I think this year will probably be mainly a lot of learning,” said Bonikowske, who played golfed collegiately at Division III Luther College in Iowa. “Most of them have only played one or two years. They’ve been playing all through the summer and even in this first week they’ve improved a lot already.”
Juniors Maggie Field, Kallie Mayer and Savannah Shortess are returning golfers for the Tigers, and will be joined by juniors Sara Sturomski and Megan Myers, sophomore Abby Coleman and freshman Macy Fitzgerald on the roster.
Four eighth-graders also will be practicing with the team, giving them valuable experience for the future.
Bonikowske said Field is a player that she thinks has the potential to improve enough to make a run into at least the sectional meet at the end of the season, and perhaps even a state tournament berth next year as a senior.
As a whole, Bonikowske said improvement from meet-to-meet and throughout the season for her team is what she is looking for.
“The girls who are returning I expect to see 5-10 strokes shaved off from last year,” she said. “It won’t take too much to get to that point. This year, it’s a lot about seeing a team bonding, learn what it is to be a team and part of a team.”