RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sources
ROANOKE, Ill. (WMBD) -- After a two-year hiatus, Roanoke-Benson girls golf is back as the Rockets have enough girls to field a team. It's a new opportunity in the fall for plenty and some girls are even playing golf for the first time.
Reese Norman was a member of the golf team her freshman year in high school and had a blast, but they graduated a lot of seniors, so there weren't enough returning girls to field a team in her sophomore and junior seasons, but this year she gets to close out her high school career with the return of the girls golf program.
"It's honestly so cool. I didn't think I'd be back and I was really excited," said Norma. "I was with a group of senior girls and they were really welcoming and I had a lot of fun and I'm just excited to do that again this year and I'm hoping that I can get some more girls interested next year and that they can keep playing as well too."
The return of the program began with a conversation between Norman and her best friend Shea Sauder, who was looking to try out golf for the first time. "Me and Shea, we had an interest and we told our friends at the lunch table because it actually happened at the lunch show, she's like, hey, I want to do girls golf. And I was like, oh my goodness that's awesome," Norman said. "And I was so pumped and then some other girls were like, yeah I'm interested. So, then we told our parents and then our parents started contacting the administration, like saying, hey, we want to get a girls golf team back together." "I honestly just wanted to try something new my senior year," said Sauder. "I like that Reese, she had played it and she said that like she absolutely loved it. And my dad loves it and my brother loves and it sounded like really fun. So, I decided to try it out."
With the relaunch of the program, the high school turned to Chad Lemon, the head coach of the Roanoke-Benson boys golf team to lead the girls program as well. "I'm stoked. Just being out here with all of them and to help them improve in their game and also help them apply aspects of the game into life," said Lemon. "And to help them improve, that's the most gratifying thing about it."
While the season is still young, it has already been a blast for the Rockets. "Some of the highlights we had a two-man scramble, and I've never done a two-man scramble, so that was really fun," said Norman. "Me and Shea had a lot of fun with that, and we just went out there to have fun and it ended up turning out really well."
Norman, Sauder, and the other members of the golf team are all seniors, but they are hoping that the exposure that the sport is getting will interest more girls going forward and the program can continue to grow. "If we get more interest in girls golf is something that again, you can do it lifelong and it would be awesome if we could get like, you know, the size of a team, like even just half the size of the boys team," Norman said. "I think it's really cool to be able to not only just compete by yourself because golf is a very individual sport but also compete as a team in regionals and sectionals and Tri-County. "
"I think it's fun and I feel like hopefully other girls that are like, younger, they can like, see how much fun we're having and stuff, and then they'll try it out too," Sauder said.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.