Windy Day Challenges Warrior Golfers At Lakeview Invite

A windy day and a tough course put the Warrior golfers to the test Thursday afternoon in Columbus.

Eleven varsity teams and 64 individual golfers competed in the Columbus Lakeview Golf Invitational played at Quail Run. Junior Austin Rice led the Warriors with a 97, tying for 16th place. Freshman Garret Belitz wasn't far behind with a 99, tying for 19th place.

"We really haven't had a great day for a meet yet," Coach Ron Beacom said. "It was at least warmer but the wind really caused issues for us. We also struggled adjusting to the speed of the greens."

Neligh-Oakdale placed 8th in the team standings with a total score of 421. Others playing for the Warriors were Neven Kline 109, Brock Kester 116 and Caleb Payne 118. Five-man teams from Lakeview, Boone Central/ Newman Grove, Central City, Columbus High, Madison, Neligh-Oakdale, Norfolk High, Norfolk Catholic, Schuyler Community Schools, Scotus Central Catholic and Wayne High School all shot at the invitational. 

"We continue to improve in the area of skill development," Beacom said. "Golf is a game that requires a lot of mental toughness and mental focus. We need to continue to improve in these areas so that we don't let a 'bad hole' ruin our round, or let a poor shot turn into multiple poor shots. In other words, we need to continue to get better at playing in the present and not get caught looking at the past. We are very inexperienced at competition golf. Some of this will get better just from playing more."

The next meet for the Warriors is a home dual with Norfolk Catholic at the Antelope Country Club on Friday at 4 p.m.

"We have a lot of meets in a short amount of time here," the coach said. "It's important that we continue to compete well and shave a few strokes off of our scores as we begin to near the district meet."