North Branch keeps trimming golf scores

NSC Meet at Bunker Hills Coming into the season, North Branch girls golf coach Dave Ambers simply wanted his young team to improve every time out. Now, half way through the season and a ton of improvement later, Ambers is hoping his girls can continue to climb the North Suburban Conference ladder.

The girls took to Bunker Hills Golf Course last week for the midseason North Suburban Conference meet. In contrast to the last few years when gray skies and rain marred the meet, a blue sky dotted with a few clouds and warm temperatures welcomed the girls. The Vikings took advantage of the beautiful golfing weather by carding their best score of the season on the West Nine, and then shaving 14 more strokes off of that score on the East Nine. The West Nine features some very long holes, but that didn’t phase senior Lauren Ibinger. She’s led the Vikings most of the year, and her 54 was tops again. Junior Emily Lawrence was right behind her with a 56. For the West Nine, the Lady Vikes came in sixth place with a 226. On the East Nine, the length is considerably shorter, but the pitfalls of water hazards and sand traps are aplenty. Again, the Vikings’ didn’t worry about those and played some solid golf. Freshman Janice Elkerton scored the top spot for the Vikings, scoring a career best 51.

She became the first girl outside of Ibinger to lead the Vikings over nine holes this year. Ibinger was right there, though, scoring a 53, while Emily Carlson notched a 54. The Vikings scored a season-best 212, earning sixth place, but creeping much closer to the top five teams ahead of them. Over the 18 holes, Ibinger carded a team-best 107, Elkerton scored a 110, Carlson had a 112 and Lawrence scored a 116. The dual sixth place finishes drew North Branch to within five points of Totino-Grace for sixth place overall in the conference. Irondale is the mid-season leader of the NSC. NSC Meet at Victory Links Despite a little moisture left over from the rainfall the night before, the weather was again beautiful for golf at Victory Links in Blaine for another NSC Meet.

The girls continued to play well in the conference. Although they didn’t drop their season-best score again, they were close, shooting a 214 -- impressive considering they hadn’t broken 225 until the meet prior. Ibinger carded the low score for the Vikings again, shooting a 49 on the links course. Sophomore Sarah Harris shot a season-best 53, Carlson carded a 55 and Elkerton hit a 57. “Sarah has been working to straighten out her game and it paid off,” Ambers said after her 53. “Sarah’s really struggled this season and it was good to see she was rewarded for her hard work.” The 214 was good enough for seventh place, two strokes ahead of Fridley. Irondale won another meet, carding a 164 for the day.