Benson qualifies for Meet of Champions

Warrior golfer does well at NCS event in Bay Area

Del Norte High senior Sydney Benson gets ready to hit the ball during the Northcoast Section Qualifers on Monday. Photo courtesy of Laura Benson

The Del Norte High senior finished with a personal best score of 90 at the Northcoast Section Division 1 Girls Golf Qualifiers at the Franklin Canyon Golf Course in Hercules in the Bay Area on Monday. Her previous best score was a 94 shot at the Del Norte Golf Course.

“I’m so excited,” Benson said. “It feels awesome.”

Benson had earned a berth to the event by finishing 8th overall in the Humboldt-Del Norte Conference and was in the lowest seeded group at the tournament. Heading into the final HDN event Benson was 9th, but a strong showing in the last HDN meet leapt her to the 8th and final NCS spot in the HDN.

That did not stop her from finishing 28th out of 145 participants as she qualified for the NCS Meet of Champions Tournament, which is one step from state. It is set for next Monday in Livermore.

This was the second year Benson has taken part in the NCS qualifiers. Last year she struggled and was 15 strokes off from qualifying. Coming in Benson just wanted to improve on that and shoot well on Monday.

“I wasn’t really nervous,” she said. “I just wanted to go out and play.”

Del Norte Head coach Cris Rice said Benson started off strongly and semeed at ease on  a course she was not familiar with.

“She was on fire to start off,” he said. “She started really well and had positive momentum. And, when she struggled, she didn’t get too hard on herself.”

Rice said it was wonderful to see her perform so well as her Del Norte career comes to a close.

“I’m thrilled for her,” he said. “Her hard work has paid off.”

In Division 1, the Eureka golf team also qualified for the Meet of Champions.

And what is Benson’s goal at the Meet of Champions?

“Hopefully I do the same thing (done on Monday) and not get too nervous about it,” she said.