Badger golf teams improve

The Bonners Ferry Badgers Boys and Girls teams finished their season playing much better than at the start of the spring.

“We started out slow due to the fact that the season started so late due to the weather, but our play improved dramatically once we could get some practice in,” coach Ralph Lotspeich said.

Leading the boys team with the low stroke average for the year was Reece Bell, while Alayna Youngwirth led the girls team.

“Both teams were very raw as we had five kids on the team who had never played golf before. They all did great for being so new to the game, and it’s a really hard game,” Lotspeich said.

Golfers rounding out the girls varsity team were Alayna Youngwirth was Emily Blackmore, Sierra Brown, Maya Roberts, and Mariah Roy while Elena Gagliardi, and Corinna Tye competed on the JV team. For the boys, Wyatt Iacolucci, Michael Youngwirth, and Seamus Newcomb joined Reece Bell on varsity while Jack Cannon played JV.

“I felt really bad for Reece as he missed qualifying for the State Tournament by only two strokes at Districts. He had an uncharacteristic nine on a hole that did him in. I am very proud of him,” Coach Lotspeich said.

He also added “This was a great team to be a part of. They were all so supportive of each other and helped each other grow not only as golfers, but people as well. I think my assistant coach David Koon has a lot to do with that. We’ve got a really good core for next year and I’m really looking forward to next season.”