The back nine of the Gallery Golf Course proved a monster for the Oak Harbor girls golf team at the second round of districts on Thursday afternoon.

“They started off really well, all of them did,” head coach Andy Wesley said.

Through the front nine Camille Merritt shot 43, Melissa Ortolani shot 46 and Lauren Acton shot a 47.

The back nine was a different story for the Wildcat golfers.

Acton, who finished the first round of the Northwest District meet in 12th place, struggled on the final nine Thursday, scoring a 71 and leaving her with a total of 118.

“It was rough for her,” Wesley said.

Although she didn’t make the state tournament, Acton did accomplish her goal of reaching the second round of districts and showed significant improvement as the season moved along.

“This was her first year,” Wesley said. “About half of the way through things just started clicking for her.”

Merritt, who was hoping to make a return to the state tournament, shot a 56 on the back nine, leaving her with a 99 for the day.

“That first round and the back nine at the Gallery ate her up,” Wesley said.

Ortolani ended with a 103, while Danae Delacruz finished with a 107.

As a team Oak Harbor ended the tournament in 14th place with a total of 31.5 points. Kamiak won the tournament with a total of 119, while Cascade’s Renee Skidmore took medalist honors with a two day total of 150 strokes.

Despite not sending any golfers to the state tournament this year Wesley, a first year coach, is excited about what the Cats might do next season.

“We’ll definitely be state bound next year,” he said.

Oak Harbor will return all of this year’s varsity squad except Ortolani, who will be moving. There is also a strong crop of junior varsity golfers moving up.

“I’m definitely looking forward to next year,” Wesley said. “We’ve got a lot of girls coming back, so watch out.”