Bakersfield College women’s golfer Dana Arneson shot a 9-over par 82 to place eighth in the State Community College Golf Championships held at Sunnyside Country Club Nov. 12-13 in Fresno.
Arneson would have finished higher if it weren’t for a penalty on the final hole of the tournament.
Arneson was headed for a possible fourth place finish when she hit the ball out of bounds to earn a 2-stroke penalty.
Arneson feels that her eighth place finish is good, but she wanted to finish better.
“I guess eighth in the state isn’t too bad. It was kind of disappointing at the same time because I know I could have played better than I did. It’s golf, I guess eighth isn’t too bad I can’t complain,” she said.
Arneson said that the 2-stroke penalty was disappointing.
“When I found out that at the end [that] I could have been in a playoff for sixth place if I wouldn’t have had the 2-stroke penalty I was bummed, “she said.
“If I didn’t pull it [the ball] over the green and out of bounds I would have been a medalist. It kind of sucks but I’ll get over it.”
Arneson mentioned many memories from this season. “Road tripping with [women’s golf coach] Cook is an experience that I don’t think anyone could forget,” said Arneson.
“Just playing golf everyday and improving everyday, I think was a memory for me that I won’t forget it’s really beneficial for me, and it will help me in oncoming years.”
Arneson said that the worst memory of her season was the 2-stroke penalty but added that she felt that she wasn’t playing quite at her level this season.
“Probably just not playing like I know that I can play. I play really well in practice, but tournaments are a lot more different than practice. Every stroke counts, it makes it a little bit harder,” said Arneson.
Arneson feels that in her future golf career, she can bring her knowledge of the game and take everything that coach Cook has taught her and use it wherever she goes.
Cook said that Arneson has really come a long way from last year.
“Dana Arneson didn’t qualify for postseason last year, she had three penalty shots on the back nine and missed by one shot to be first team all state,” said Cook.
“There was a lot of hard work (this season) we went from nothing to potentially the best season. ”
“We missed by one swing (this year), which costs us two shots on the very last hole. It was a heck of a year it’s just we didn’t get us a trophy,” Cook said.
Cook said that he and Arneson were shocked after they found out that she had received a 2-stroke penalty. “Golf is a game of inches, one swing can move you from fourth to eighth [place],” he said.