The Mustang golf team has opened its season with strong performances and steady improvement, showing early on that depth will be a key strength throughout the year.
The Mustangs teed off their season at the Red Cloud quad, where multiple players contributed to a solid team showing. Hunter Faimon led the varsity squad with a 5th-place finish, carding an 86. Close behind, Beau Bonifas placed 6th with an 88, followed by Jordan Bonifas in 7th with an 89. Frank Thomas also shot an 89 to finish 8th, while Xander Journey rounded out the varsity lineup in 12th with a 94.
On the junior varsity side, Tanner Vance turned in an impressive performance, placing 2nd with a score of 86. Lee Gibson added a 4th-place finish with a 93, and Trevor Kral placed 9th with a 101.
The Mustangs returned to Red Cloud for the Bob Bohrer Invite, where Frank Thomas competed in a large field of 70 golfers and finished 14th overall. In a JV dual at Amherst, Tanner Vance continued his strong start to the season with another 2nd-place finish.
At the Sandy Creek Invitational, the varsity team delivered one of its best performances so far, placing 4th out of 17 teams with a team score of 333. The JV squad also competed at Franklin, where Tanner Vance once again earned a runner-up finish.
A key factor in the Mustangs’ early success has been their depth, something the coaching staff sees as a major strength of this year’s team.
“One of our best attributes as a golf team this year has been our depth,” head coach Ryan Behmer said. “From top to bottom, we have a very well-rounded team. It makes for an interesting meet day because we could use anyone’s score. I feel like it takes some of the pressure off the golfers because they know if they aren’t playing their best, we will still have a chance to compete in the team rankings.”
That depth was on full display at the Cyndi Peil Invite in Red Cloud, where the Mustangs turned in one of their most exciting performances of the season. After finishing tied for second place with Exeter-Milligan-Friend, the teams headed to a playoff on hole number one in front of a crowd of nearly 50 spectators.
The Mustangs’ first group, Journey and Faimon, faced early trouble off the tee, but the second team, the duo of Bonifas and Bonifas, responded by calmly playing the hole and tapping in for par to keep the team in contention. The pressure intensified with the third group, Thomas and Kral, where Kral, despite not having his best round earlier in the day, delivered in a clutch moment with a strong drive and helped secure another par.
With the teams still tied, the final group stepped up. After scrambling to reach the green, Faimon faced a 15-foot putt for par while the EMF team had a short 4-foot attempt. Faimon sank the long putt to apply pressure. EMF narrowly missed their putt, sealing the playoff win and a second-place team finish for the Mustangs.
The Bonifas crew added to the varsity success by placing 3rd in Flight B, while Thomas and Kral earned 3rd in Flight C. On the JV side, Vance and Lee Gibson capped off the meet as flight champions.
As the season progresses toward conference, districts, and state competition, the team remains focused on both improvement and results.
“Golf is a unique sport where you compete against other teams, but your biggest opponent is yourself,” Behmer said. “Our goals are always to compete for both team and individual awards, but more importantly, to beat our previous scores. When we do that, we usually finish with a strong team performance.”
Another area of growth has been the team’s mental approach.
“The golfers have done a great job of working in practice and, more importantly, outside of practice,” he said. “But the biggest area of growth that I’ve noticed is in their mindset. If they are having an off hole or front nine, they have done a good job of not letting it snowball and ruin their whole round.”