The Notre Dame girls golf team finished 2nd in the conference championship this Thursday at Wander Springs Golf Course.

The team finished six strokes behind Bay Port, also placing three golfers in the top ten, including seniors Emma Wolf shooting an 81 and Belle Mae WIlliams shooting an 85.

Both also earned all-conference selections with Wolf as a first-team selection and Williams on second-team.

However, this year’s squad was dealt some adversity before the season even started, when #1 golfer, junior Grace Durkin, was held out with a spinal injury. 

“The symptoms of my injury began to show back in February and in August things got worse and worse,” Durkin explained. “It caused pain in my back and shooting pains down my leg. My doctor told me I was for sure going to be out for the season, and it was heartbreaking to hear but I wanted more than anything to be able to walk and do simple everyday things without extreme pain.”

Durkin had been one of the best golfers in her class in the state of Wisconsin in her freshman and sophomore years, helping lead the Tritons to their first state tournament appearance last fall since 2016.

However, this season she had to watch on from the sidelines as her team continued to succeed.

“I can’t describe how much love and support I got from my teammates,” Durkin said. “It was so comforting to know these girls had my back while I was recovering.”

In Durkin’s absence, the program added a new golfer in Sophia Baek. For Baek, it was her first time playing high school golf, but she helped the team compete right away as the #2/3 golfer. 

“This season was really fun,” Baek said. “It was a great experience and I loved meeting new people.”

Baek’s scores also helped contribute to the second place finish this week as she shot an 84 on Thursday and also earned second team all-conference.

“It was great to hear that I had earned all-conference,” Baek said. “It was mostly exciting, especially with it being my first year.”

The team will continue onto the playoffs and make another push for state this year at University Ridge in Madison, as they will participate in regionals at Royal Scot next Wednesday.