For the City Times

NEKOOSA – Nekoosa’s girls golf team ended their inaugural season at the Coulee Conference Championship on Sept. 28 at Drugans in Holmen, ending a busy week with golf on Monday in Black River Falls (BRF) and Thursday at Cochrane before the 18-hole championship round.

“The fall weather was starting to roll in on Monday, making Skyline Golf Course trickier to play than usual,” recalled Coach Jen Jackson. “Most girls in the conference struggled that night, making it hard to gear up for the end of the season. Hailey Brown and Gwen Moffett were the bright spots on our roster in BRF as they both carded their best 9-hole rounds of the season to that point.

“C-FC at Walnut Grove Golf Course was a different story as the weather was beautiful and the Papermakers had everything rolling. As a team they carded a 217, the best nine-hole team score we had all season, and three girls carded their low round of the season that night.

“It was also the last night for our JV golfers, Kya Smith and Diana Gabriel, who played great all season and saw huge improvement in their game. I can’t wait to see what Kya and Diana are able to bring to our team next season. They both have worked so hard to improve their game, especially their short game to cut strokes off their scores. It will be fun to see what they can do next fall.”

Saturday in Holmen, the Papermakers were able to turn in scores good enough to place them third for the event and finish the season in fifth as a team.

Jade Hildebrand ended her senior season with a third-place individual title, earning her First Team All-Conference honors.

“Jade has put together some fantastic scores all season long. She really pushed the other top-tier golfers in their conference to up their game, and she has demonstrated true leadership on and off the course for our team,” said Jackson.

The Papermakers open up post-season play on Oct. 2 in Middleton at the Edgewood Regional. The regional includes defending state champions, Madison Edgewood.