As the North Platte girls golf team begins to wind down its season and shift focus toward district play in two weeks, Bulldogs coach Jim Orcutt organized something fun for his team: A two-person scramble against Gothenburg at Wild Horse Golf Club.

“It’s a pressure releaser,” Orcutt said. “It gives you a chance to take some chances without much of a risk of your own game. So it’s mostly fun today.”

North Platte has been busy in the past two weeks, playing in three invitationals in the span of seven days, including one at Lake Maloney, to help prepare for the district cut off date this past Friday.

The Bulldogs, the defending state champions, are No. 9 in Class A and are heading to Stone Creek on Oct. 4 for the A-1 District hosted by Millard North, where they are third.

Orcutt said outside of Karsen Morrison, no one has played there before.

“Not very familiar at all. These kids have never played that,” Orcutt said. “Karsen has played it once in the summertime, but she’s going down to play it again. She’s going to make a little help sheet for her teammates this weekend.”

Orcutt also said that not knowing the course could help the team because they might not think about the course too much.

“Sometimes it is easier because you don’t know where the trouble is,” he said. “You are just focused on the fairway.”

North Platte has two more events before it can fully shift its focus onto Stone Creek. First up is defending the DogCat trophy against Kearney in a dual at River’s Edge on Monday, then they head to McCook for the GNAC Tournament on Friday.

“We currently have the cup, and we don’t want Kearney to get it,” Orcutt said. “And Friday at GNAC down at McCook, it’s us and Scottsbluff probably again. We’re hoping a course like that will throw them for a little bit of a loop.”

Scottsbluff bested North Platte at the North Platte Invite on Sept. 16 at Lake Maloney by three strokes. Orcutt said the team showed progress against the defending Class B state champions.

Morrison and Abbie Jones have emerged this season as leaders at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, and they got to pair up against Gothenburg in the scramble, where they shot a 32.

Kaylee Carlson, the final returner from last season’s team, slid into the No. 3 spot, and she paired with Hailey Matthews to score a 42.

The last varsity pairing of Emily Hanson, the No. 5 on varsity, and Winnie Haneborg shot a 43, rounding out North Platte’s score to 117.

“It takes a little pressure off, and lets them have a little fun in a different format.”

Team results

(top three scores from each team count)

North Platte def. Gothenburg 117-126

North Platte scramble scores

Karsen/Abbie, 32; Kaylee/Hailey, 42; Emily/Winnie, 43; Madi/Chantel, 44; Elaina/Haylie 45; Rebecca/Tatum, 45.