DARLINGTON – The Redbirds graduated their top two golfers from a year ago, and with that comes some big challenges.

Marissa Gould and Maggie Nordquist earned all-conference honors on the links in 2019, while the squad’s four returners were not as consistently at the top of each meet. Seniors Brianna Gavinski and Payton Gratz are back, as are juniors Sadie Gollmer and Josie Thomas.

“Overall experience throughout the program will be a challenge this year,” coach Molly Rice said. “However, we have a few returning varsity players who will be phenomenal leaders for the underclassmen.”

“We have many young golfers coming through the program who could make significant contributions,” Rice said. “The goal this year is to simply get better every day. We are a fairly young team, so continuous improvement will be the most important goal.”

Thomas has been the team’s top scorer thus far on the season, with Gavinski a solid No. 2. Other golfers getting a shot on varsity include Josie Meister, Sophie Wiegel and Alexis Bridges.

“The team’s main strength this year will be work ethic. Many of the golfers have been putting in time on the course this summer and this will be very beneficial for the upcoming season,” Rice said.

The regular season was pushed back by the WIAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Redbirds are playing a conference-heavy schedule. On Sept. 9, the WIAA decided to move the state tournament away from UW Ridge, it’s longtime home, based on Dane County’s tight restrictions on gatherings and athletic competitions. The season is now just over five weeks long, which means there is even less time for golfers to get their strokes in order before regionals.

“I expect the whole conference to be very competitive this year. For this reason, it will be a very fun season for all,” Rice said.