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Coaches happy with county golf results, eye sectional
CLOVERDALE — Putnam County girls’ golf coaches hope that today’s sectional tournaments are a continuation of Thursday’s county meet, in which all four coaches were happy with the performance of their teams.
Greencastle, Cloverdale and South Putnam will travel to Brazil to compete in the Northview sectional at Forest Park, along with Rockville, South Vermillion, Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo.
North Putnam will travel north to Crawfordsville to compete along with Attica, Lebanon, North Montgomery, Seeger, Southmont and Western Boone.
On Thursday, Greencastle won the team title by five strokes over Cloverdale, while Greencastle’s Macey Masten and South Putnam’s Alicia Haywood tied for medalist honors with 46s and couldn’t break the deadlock in three playoff holes before darkness concluded the evening. For Haywood, it was her second straight title.
Several players shot season- or career-best performances.
Here is a summary of each team’s county performance and sectional outlook:
Greencastle
“I was very proud of the girls,” coach Robert Hedge said. “They worked very hard to defend their title. Macey played great under pressure, playing even through a playoff.
“Lindsey [Bridgewater] played the best round of the year with a 48, and could have been much better,” he added. “Gabby [Selvia] also played very well.”
Hedge hopes his team can pull itself together and have good rounds on the same day in order to be one of the three advancing teams from the regional.
“We are looking forward to the sectional,” he said. “Hopefully we can play a little better and advance to the regional.”
South Putnam
“I was very happy with our team scores at county,” coach Kevin Metz said. “I was happy to see both Alicia and Macey take home a co-champion title. Both girls played well and were both deserving of title.”
Several Eagles surpassed their previous performances.
“Leighla [Hazlett] played an outstanding round last night, setting a new personal best score,” Metz added. “Anna [Carrington] and Kristi [Wood] both shot in the 50s, which was something I was happy to see.
“Reagan [Ladd] bounced back after a tough night before and scored much better.”
Metz thought the timing was right with today being sectional day.
“It was a step in the right direction before sectional,” he said. “Hopefully we can score well this weekend too.”
Cloverdale
“I was proud of how our girls performed,” coach Matthew Langdon said. “Our 209 team score was one short of our season best.
“Sometimes you just have to give the credit to the other team — Greencastle went out and shot a great round.”
The Clovers finished with three players (Abbie Speas, Abby Walker and Hannah Nichols) on the eight-player all-county team — the most from any school.
“We ended up getting three girls on the all-county team, which was a great thing to see,” he said. “The girls were disappointed [with not winning the title] but are quickly turning their focus to sectionals.
“This year that third regional birth as a team is wide open,” Langdon added. “The girls are looking forward to competing for that spot.”
North Putnam
Cougar junior Taylor Dixon shot a 48 to place third overall in the county, and coach Linda Patrick noted the improvement that Dixon has made in the past year.
“This score is nine strokes better than last year, and indicates the hard work and dedication Taylor has put forth all year and the off season to her golf game,” Patrick said. “She started the season with determination to place in both the conference and county teams this year.
“With just the sectionals remaining to be played, we are all hoping she can continue her journey and make it out of sectionals,” Patrick added. “I feel there is a good chance of this happening if she can really be on her game. She has played the sectional course several times and has honed in on club usage and course management for the course.”
Emily Eltz also managed to drop her score this year, Patrick noted, shooting a 53 to miss the all-county team by one stroke.
“This was a definite plus for Emily as she heads into sectionals,” Patrick said. “She once again exhibited improvement in her drives but encountered having to take three putts on the greens.
“She also had great second shot recovery hits that helped her reach the green sooner.”
Abby Simmerman carded a 53.
“That is a great score for the freshman in her first county tourney,” Patrick said. “She also had some fantastic recovery shots which helped save her game.
“Abby is exhibiting a little more patience in the game, which is showing up at a critical time before sectionals.”
Jadin Nunez, shooting a 73, had improvement in certain areas of her game, but also still showing some difficulties in certain skill areas, Patrick said.
“With the normal rookie problems of just finishing, she continually works to improve her game,” Patrick said. “As the Lady Cougars head into sectionals, they all realize that it will be tough coming out as a team.
“However, now with four players, they do feel their most recent team scores are comparable to the team scores of several other schools at the sectional.”