The girls varsity golf team missed qualifying for the state tournament at Muskegon Country Club on Monday by eight strokes. Freshman Skyler Tierney and senior Ava Metaj led the Rangers with scores of 98. Unfortunately, the rest of the team couldn’t follow suit, and this brings the girls’ season to an end. The Rangers finished in fourth place with a score of 416. Forest Hills Northern took first with a score of 344, East Grand Rapids followed with a score of 385, and finishing third was Mona Shores with a 408.

Muskegon Country Club is a difficult golf course with greens that can be extremely frustrating. Green speeds can be tremendously fast in the fall due to dry or dead grass. The girls really struggled on the putting greens.

“The greens were impossible and beyond fast,” senior Taylor Baumgardner said. “I believe that we all did our best to adapt, but sadly it was not enough for us to be able to advance.”

Head coach Paul TenEyck has been preaching the importance of a short game throughout the season, and it was a sole focus during practices this year.

“Short game was a point of emphasis this season,” TenEyck said. “We worked on a lot of bump and runs, and hopefully this will help put us in a good position for next season.”

Taylor attested to that, noting her own improvement throughout the season.

“Coach Teneyck really helped me improve my putting and chipping this year,” Taylor said.

The Rangers did have some success off the tee. Tee shots are very important at Muskegon Country Club, and the girls were able to leave themselves in a good position to approach the green in some situations.

“My driver started to heat up for me on the back nine,” Taylor said. “I was able to hit most of the fairways on the back.”

Skyler has proved to be a fantastic player for the Ranger golf program as a freshman. She has been very consistent for the team and will play a big role in her next three seasons for the Rangers.

“Skyler is a fabulous addition to the team,” Maddie said. “Not only because of her low scores, but she is always in a good mood and boosts the team’s spirit.”

Although the girls were not able to advance to states, they enjoyed their last tournament together as a team.

“I think the Rangers had a great last tournament, and we all kept good attitudes throughout the entire round,” Maddie said.