On March 16 and 17 the women’s golf team placed second at the Augustana Spring Fling tournament in Palm Desert.

Bergen Benedict led the Cougars with a 5-over 149 tying second with Paige Lyle from Rollins College.

“I was very proud of myself by how I was able to keep my chin up when things went wrong. I just moved on and went to the next hole like nothing bad had ever happened,” said Benedict. “I was thankful that my mom got to watch the whole tournament and that Coach Hutton was by my side when I finished my last hole.”

Other competing teams included University of Indianapolis, Rollins College, Augustana, Lindenwood, Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma Baptist, Southwest Minnesota and South Dakota Tech.

Freshman Savannah Magallon, the next highest-ranking Cougar who earned sixth place with an overall score of 77-75- 152(+8).

Coach Greg Hutton looks forward to seeing the team continue to improve.

“This season has been awesome. The girls have played some really good golf with 1 win and 3 second place finishes in four tournaments. We have been a great second round team but have struggled to put two really solid rounds together. If we can do that in Tucson, we can win in a couple of weeks. [I’d like] to be ranked top 10.”

Their next and final tournament will be on April 3 to 4 in Tucson, Arizona.