Craig's Nicholson wins Big Eight golf tournament title

John Barry, The Janesville Gazette, Wis.
·2 min read

Sep. 24—EVANSVILLE — Mya Nicholson's record-setting season continued Thursday at the Big Eight Conference girls golf tournament.

One week after setting a program scoring record, the Janesville Craig sophomore became the first girl from the city to win a Big Eight girls golf title. She fired an even-par 72 in difficult conditions at the Evansville Golf Club course to win by five shots over Sarah Ramsden of Beloit Memorial.

Middleton, the state's top-ranked team, won the team championship with a 328 score, followed by Sun Prairie at 365. Craig finished third at 396 and Janesville Parker was sixth at 324.

Nicholson capped off her round Thursday by nearly driving the green on the 275-yard, par-4 18th hole, chipping her approach shot to within five feet and draining the birdie putt.

"My short game worked really well today," Nicholson said. "My driving was really good. But my irons, I can definitely get better with those. They were kind of all over the place.

"I played well on the par-5s today, and the par-4s were OK. The courses we've played lately have been short, and that plays into my strength, which is driving the ball."

Nicholson broke a school record with a 2-under-par 69 in winning the Parker Invitational last Saturday, and Craig coach Alex Schaar said his sophomore standout is gearing up for a big postseason.

"Mya's been working hard on her game, and it's really paying off," Schaar said. "She's doing a really good job of managing each course she plays, and today was no different. She went out and got the job done."

Lauren Dammen added a 93 for Craig. Sarah Zimmerman had a 96 to pace Parker.

Parker coach John Zimmerman said conditions were tough on the windy and difficult Evansville course.

"I thought our girls handled the wind pretty well," Zimmerman said. "The fact that Mya shot 72 is really impressive on a day like this, and when only three girls break 80, that tells you how tough it was playing.

"But I really like playing here. It's a challenging course on a neutral site, and it forces the girls to really concentrate on course management and playing against the conditions—which today, were some strong winds."

BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

At Evansville Golf Course, par 72TEAM SCORESMiddleton 328; Sun Prairie 365; Janesville Craig 396; Madison West 406; Verona 419; Janesville Parker 424; Madison Memorial 439; Beloit Memorial, Madison La Follette incomplete.

MEDAL LEADERS1. Mya Nicholson (JC) 72; 2. Sarah Ramsden (BM) 77; 3. Ellie Frisch (Mid) 79; 4. Vivian Cressman (Mid) 81; 5. Amanda Beckman (Mid) 83.

OTHER JANESVILE RESULTS

Craig—Lauren Dammen 93, Esther Jung 112, Rowan Dunn 119.

Parker—Sarah Zimmerman 96, Madelyn Olson 102, Bailey Carlson 107, Macy Grover 119.