Tuesday was an historic day for the Broken Bow girls golf team. Broken Bow became the first Class C team to win the NSAA girls state golf tournament four years in a row. Broken Bow entered the final day of competition with a six shot lead over Minden. Minden came out strong on the opening nine holes finishing with a 159 team score on the front nine while Broken Bow’s opening nine hole team score was a 168. Through 27 holes, Minden had taken the team lead with a score of 509 compared to Broken Bow’s 512. Things would begin to change on the back nine. The first score that came in for Broken Bow was Skylar Benjamin’s 93, a four shot improvement from day one. Then came Brynn Custer’s score. On Monday she shot a personal best 94 and on the final day she would better that with a 92. Then came the two scores that really shifted the tide. Molly Custer posted an 86 which was five shots better than her first round score. Taylor Schaaf then posted a personal best 81 which was a seven shot improvement from day one. The improvement Broken Bow’s two through five golfers had from day one to day two put the Lady Indians back in the lead for the team title. That set the stage for Broken Bow’s Camryn Johnson to seal the deal. Johnson was not only in a battle for team gold but was also in a battle for individual gold. Johnson entered the final round atop the leaderboard with a two shot lead over defending state champion Olivia Lovegrove of Lincoln Christian. Lovegrove birdied two of the first three holes and quickly erased the two shot deficit. After both golfers bogeyed the par 3 fourth, Lovegrove took the lead on hole #5 with a par while Johnson bogeyed. Lovegrove would grow the lead to as many three through eleven holes but then came the pivotal 12th. Lovegrove double bogeyed the par 4 hole while Johnson walked away with a par to climb to within one shot. The two matched each other stroke for stroke until the par 3 17th. Johnson would par and Lovegrove would bogey to bring the two even with each other heading to the final hole. On the 18th, each had a putt for par. Lovegrove went first but was unable to sink a putt estimated at 25 feet. That opened the door for Johnson. The putt was estimated at 6 or so feet but Johnson told KCNI/KBBN sports after the round that it felt more like a 30 footer. As the Broken Bow fans held their breath, Johnson approached the putt and sank it for the win to become Broken Bow’s first state gold medal champion in girls golf.
Broken Bow finished the day with three individual medalists. Johnson won the gold medal with a low two day total of 149. Taylor Schaaf was 9th with a two day total 169 and Molly Custer tied for 15th with a two day total 177.
Broken Bow won the team title with a two day total 681 and Minden was second with a 690.
Following the tournament, the state champions took time to visit with KCNI/KBBN sports director Brent Apperson. Listen to the full interview below.
