By BRETT MARSHALL

Special to The Hays Daily News

GARDEN CITY -- Make no mistake, Mark Watts likes Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.

The Garden City public golf course is among the best in Kansas, but it also presents a monumental challenge to Watts' Hays High School girls' golf team.

Nothing changed with the team's latest visit to western Kansas as the Indian golfers claimed a solid third-place finish on Monday with a team score of 408.

It was well back of team champion Maize (349) and runner-up Garden City (365) and just ahead of Class 4A Goodland (410) and Class 2A Syracuse (412).

Leading the way for Watts' inexperienced team was Taylor Herman, and Lexie Schaben, both of whom hit the century mark of 100 on the nose. Herman is the lone regular returning to the varsity from the 2011 season.

"We started poorly, but we were able to bring it back a little after that," Watts said. "We haven't seen rough like this, the wind blew harder than usual, so it makes for tough conditions in which to play."

Courtney Hess posted a 103 while Elissa Jensen was close behind at 106 and Zoey Gubitoso followed with a 115.

"We were disappointed with the start, but this is just the second 18-hole event for some of these girls and they're not quite used to walking that distance," Watts said. "We get a week off (Sept. 18 at Salina South Inv.) to work on some things, get some things fixed."

With the tournament also counting in the Western Athletic Conference standings, the Indians had a solid second to Garden City.

"We beat our regional teams today, but this course tested their character today," Watts said. "It was a pretty good test."