Hedge, Shrum moving on to golf regional after rounds in the 80s

Monday, September 19, 2011
Katie Hedge

BRAZIL -- Two Putnam County golfers advanced from the Northview girls' golf sectional as all four county schools competed Saturday afternoon.

Greencastle finished fourth on the day with a team score of 388, nine shots back of the hosts, who took the final qualifying spot for the Martinsville Regional next weekend. Terre Haute North took the top spot, with Terre Haute South finishing second.

The surprise round of the day went to North Putnam, who finished fifth overall with a score of 412, six shots better than Cloverdale. County champions South Putnam finished eighth overall on 426.

Sydney Shrum

Advancing to the regional were golfers Katie Hedge and Sydney Shrum, of Greencastle and Cloverdale respectively. They are joined by South Vermillion's Bailey Craft as the three non-team advancers from the sectional.

While Greencastle had hopes of advancing as a full squad, Greencastle coach Brad Kingma was impressed with his squad's round.

"I'm happy with how we played. The other teams played well and to finish third would be nice, but it would be an upset. We played the best we have all year today," Kingma said.

"We're really proud of Katie getting through as an individual. She was striking the ball pretty well today. One nice thing about Windy Hill CC is that it has a lot holes with some to Foxcliff."

"We can do some simulated shots and simulated holes. She'll go out and play a practice round one day to get ready," Kingma added.

Cloverdale coach Matt Langdon wasn't as enthused about his squad's round, but the positives were worth taking.

"We struggled on the back nine, which was higher than what we shot earlier, but it was good to see us finish well on the front nine. We broke 200, shot 197 as a team. Anna Spencer, our freshman, shot a career low on the front nine," Langdon said.

"It looks like we're getting closer. We need to keep going up places next year and the next to have a chance in the future to take a run at this."

Sydney Shrum's advancement to the regional for the second time has Langdon wanting bigger things from his golfer.

"She went there last year. The first year you go to regional, it's something new and you're happy to be there. At this point, for her second year, she's got some different goals. She wants to go there and complete for the three spots to go to state," Langdon said.

"We'll take a week of practice and work on some individual things and hopefully get her ready to compete for one of those spots."

North Putnam coach Linda Patrick was the happiest of the bunch after a terrific round from her squad.

"I am so happy for them today, I don't know how to feel about it. They came from having a little disappointment from the county and said, 'We're going to do it.'," Patrick said.

"We had (Meagan Schutter) come in under 100. They all had a goal to get under 100, and Meagan shot a 98. They all came strong today and they were determined.

"Since we started three years ago, we always have felt like we do well at the end of the season. We wish we had another week or two in there to get stronger before then. They knew what they had to do and they did that," Patrick added.

"They started helping each other at practice and trying to analyze and visualize, all the things you want the girls to do. One of the girls still had problems today, and she was disappointed, but she got us where we are today."

"I told her, 'You got us to fifth place today, and we couldn't have done that without you,'" she said.

When asked to assess their seasons, the coaches all noted solid competition in the county was key.

"I've been pleasantly surprised. At the start of the year, we weren't sure what was going to happen. For us to be competing at the end of the year is good for the Putnam County girls' golf competition," Langdon said.

"There was so much excitement at the County Match. For it to come down to one stroke, it was exciting and good for the girls.

"I am very pleased with our season. We've had some success individually and team wise. It was nice to see us end the year reaching another goal by breaking 200," Langdon added.

"We were an up-and-down team. We could play really well, but if things went bad, it could go really bad. That's what we saw at the conference match a week ago. It was about as bad as it was, and then today it was about as good as it was," Kingma said.

"North Putnam came here and played very well today. South Putnam and Cloverdale played well at the county match. Everybody played nice rounds, which is nice to see," Kingma added.

"We had a hard time getting going. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that they realized what they could do. I need to get them to realize that earlier in the season, of what they can do," Patrick said.

"Overall, I think they were pleased with themselves. Like every team, somebody might be disappointed because they didn't feel like they did what they wanted to get done. But I've told the girls they won't ever disappoint me, because what ever they shoot, it is what it is.

"We're losing three seniors, and two of them have been with me two or three years. We have two seniors and two sophomores back for next year. They should have the experience next year to help this team out, as we'll try to dig up a few more players," Patrick added.

"Every year, they've seen more and more accomplishments on the course and on their play. They'll be ready. I was hoping they might come in a stronger at the beginning of the year but I'm not disappointed one bit."

At Forest Park Golf Course

IHSAA Girls' Golf Sectional No. 21

Team Scores

Terre Haute North 340, Terre Haute South 364, Northview 379, Greencastle 388, North Putnam 412, Rockville 416, Cloverdale 418, South Putnam 426, South Vermillion 430, Owen Valley 449, West Vigo 453

Medalist: Rachel Welker (THN) 73

Non-Team Individual Advancement: Bailey Craft (SV) 78, Katie Hedge (G) 86, Sydney Shrum (CL) 88

County Scores

Greencastle: Hedge 86, Bennett 92, Johnson 106, St. Marie 104, Bridgewater 126

North Putnam: Schutter 98, Scott 101, Parent 102, Wilborn 111, Smith 134

Cloverdale: Shrum 88, Boyette 97, Spencer 114, Moore 119, Ellebrecht 146

South Putnam: C. Boyce 99, Cash 99, K. Boyce 113, Woodworth 115, McKean 120