HOLMEN — Aquinas High School senior Molly Swift said she didn’t feel strongly one way or the other about how her 18-hole golf round at the Viking Classic would go on Tuesday.
She isn’t at her most confident at Drugan’s Castle Mound and said she doesn’t typically play her best when there, but a double bogey and a bogey on her first three holes didn’t prepare Swift for what was coming.
Four birdies followed — three in a row at one point — as Swift shot a 2-over-par 73 for not only the best round of her career but one that produced an individual championship in a field of 52 golfers.
“My putting was definitely better than normal,” Swift said of the round, which was two shots better than runner-up Elsie Schmid of team champion River Falls. “I worked with my grandpa on it, and I guess what we did worked.”
Onalaska was the top local finisher in the team competition with a score of 346, which trailed only the Wildcats (328) and Tomah (335). The Hilltoppers were led by sixth-place sophomore Finley Schams (82) and seventh-place senior Rickie Tillotson (83).
Aquinas was fifth (366), Holmen sixth (372), Arcadia eighth (408) and Central/Logan ninth (437) among local teams.
Swift, who began on the seventh hole in a shotgun start, added a bogey and was at 4 over before teeing off at the par-4 15th, 16th and 17th. She knocked down birdie putts on all three to get back to 1 over after 11 holes and was 2-under 34 on the back nine.
“I feel like I knocked down a lot of long putts,” said Swift, also a basketball and soccer player at Aquinas. “I think 12 feet was the best one.”
Swift added another birdie on the par-4 third and went to her final two holes at even par before finishing with a pair of bogeys.
The round is nine shots better than an 82 she had earlier this season at Hiawatha Golf Club in Tomah.
“I feel really good about it,” Swift said when asked about her season in general. “I’ve had a few off days, but nothing noticeably off.
“This makes me feel better.”
The Blugolds also received scoring rounds from junior Gabriella Stratman (87), senior Lucy Reyerson (102) and senior Hayden Zehren (104).
Senior Sydney Kranig shot an 89 for Onalaska, and teammates Becka Mohr and Brooklynn Williams both shot 92s.
Holmen was led by 10th-place junior Emily Napiecek (84) and freshman Serene Mather (91) Sophomore Kaylee Banse added a 94 and senior Teagan Nelson a 103 for the Vikings.
The Raiders had four players within eight strokes of one another and were led by junior Kalyce Sobotta (97). Junior Amaya Schlesser had a 101 and juniors Riley Walters and Sacia Boland 105s.
The La Crosse co-op was led by senior Elena Wagner’s 94, while seniors Jaymeson Buxton and Emma Roesler shot 114s and senior Alayna Berra a 115.
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