This team went undefeated to win the City League girls golf championship

No one knew.

It has been that long since the Kapaun Crusaders went undefeated on their way to a City League girls golf title. But they did it Tuesday, beating the field with a 374 total team score.

“It’s a young group, and I’m proud of all of them to put in the work that they have,” senior Nicole Graf said. “We’ve all worked our butts off to get to where we are today.”

The Crusaders went 5-0 in City League tournaments in 2018 and are rolling into their regional tournament at their home course, Crestview Country Club. Coach Dan Harrison said he is proud of what his girls have shown this season.

“It’s grit,” he said. “I never emphasized that we have to shoot a certain score. I just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get better.’ And if you look at the girls’ scores, they’ve consistently gone down.”

Kapaun’s six players all finished within the top eight Tuesday, including Graf, who took second on her birthday with a 20-over, 92. She finished behind only Wichita Northwest junior Parker Hoopes, who won with a 16-over, 88.

Hoopes said it was just her day.

“I hit a lot of good recovery shots and just stayed playing my game,” Hoopes said. “I just did what I knew I could do, and honestly, I didn’t think too much about it.”

Kapaun’s other top finishers included Maggi Duncan and Lauren Rudy, who finished tied for third with a 21-over 93.

Harrison said all of the Crusaders started slow Tuesday but caught fire on the back nine. That made the difference. Graf was no different.

“You just have to keep your head up,” she said. “If you have a bad hole, just turn around and smile through the next one. There are 18 holes, so you just got to push through all of it.”

See the full tournament results here.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 3:04 PM.