Knuffman, Eftink enjoy season’s final round with solid scores at state tournament

DECATUR, Ill. — Hana Knuffman and Blair Eftink said adios to the pressure and hello to the simple beauty of golf.

Tee it up. Drive it. Find the green. Roll it in the cup.

Then do it 17 more times without worrying about the score, the leaderboard or the end result.

That’s how the two Quincy Notre Dame juniors approached the second day of the Class 2 state tournament at Red Tail Run Golf Course. It led to two enjoyable rounds — Knuffman shot an 80 and Eftink posted a 91 — that were essentially void of worry.

“It was actually one of the most relaxed matches of the season,” Eftink said. “Since it was the last one, I was like, ‘Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You’ve already gotten to play as many matches as you can.’ So I just had fun.”

Knuffman did, too.

“It was still a state tournament, but I told myself to just have fun,” Knuffman said. “I figured I’d probably do better anyway if I tried to be more relaxed. So I just kind of had fun and played golf.”

She played it well, especially on the final nine. Starting on the 10th hole, Knuffman played the first nine in 5-over and suffered a triple-bogey on the par-4 first hole. The next eight holes featured six pars, one birdie and one bogey, allowing her to post a 3-over 39 on the last nine of the season.

“I was much better at putting today,” Knuffman said. “It actually worked.”

It was a nice rebound from her opening-round 87, leaving her 41st overall at 167.

Meanwhile, Eftink regrouped after shooting a 48 on her first nine and finished 63rd with a 178. 

“I just had a lot more fun,” Eftink said. “That’s what I wanted.”

The state tournament experience is something they yearned for as well. QND advanced as a team for the first time since 2012, and although the Raiders didn’t make the cut as a team and finished 11th out of 12 schools, the camaraderie was as fulfilling as anything.

“It’s so fun to be able to do that stuff with your team and you get so close with them during the season,” Eftink said. “To end it with being able to say you went to state, it’s really special.”