Heading into Monday’s Class 2, District 2 Tournament, Warrenton girls golf coach Kelly Anderson was confident in Sam Butkovich’s ability to qualify for state. She only wanted the Warrenton junior to keep her nerves under control.

Butkovich did so and also made program history in the process. She placed 17th in the tourney and is the first girls golfer to qualify for state since the program debuted five years ago. She shot a 108 at Eagle Knoll Golf Club in Hartsburg.

A year ago, Butkovich missed qualifying for state by four shots.

“In previous years her nervousness would get the best of her, causing a bad shot or putt, then more missed shots would follow,” Anderson said. “This year she was focused on one swing at a time and having a short memory. If she did have a bad shot, she wanted to trust her swing and attack the next shot with confidence.”

The Class 2 state tournament will be held Monday and Tuesday at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club in New Bloomfield.

Anderson is excited about the program’s future. This was the first year the team had enough girls to compete as a team at districts. The other members were Merrick Owens, Aimee Hanratty, Olivia Mischlispy and Shaye Drees.

“We are a fairly new program and not many girls play golf in our school district, some people still don’t know we even have girls golf,” Anderson said. “We are growing each year in numbers and ability, I hope the community sees our success and more young girls become interested in being part of our golf program.”