NP’s Dixon qualifies for golf regional

Sunday, September 18, 2016
Taylor Dixon

CRAWFORDSVILLE — North Putnam golfer Taylor Dixon shot a 52-52—104 on Saturday to finish tied for second place among golfers whose teams did not place in the top three.

That finish allows Dixon, a junior, to become the first Lady Cougar golfer to qualify for regional competition since Alyssa Simpson in 2006.

“Taylor’s had her normal flow of play, perhaps encountering a few tough situations,” NP coach Linda Patrick said. “Her drives were working fairly good for her, along with her mid-range shots. However, her short game of pitching and putting will definitely need improvement before Saturday.”

North Putnam junior is a regional qualifier.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

Patrick noted that Dixon fixed some of her swing problems as the day went along.

“Some of her striking problems for the pitch shot did not get better until near the end of the tournament,” she said. “Once she figured out her problem, her last five holes showed better striking on the pitch shots.

“Putting created problems for the first nine holes while the greens were still fairly wet.”

Patrick noted that the tourney’s status was uncertain as the morning developed, as heavy overnight rainfall created bad course conditions.

The tourney only started 10 minutes late, though, as the rain ended and the sun eventually came out before the end of the day.

“Due to the rain, the course conditions were not at an optimum level for great scores,” Patrick said. “Playing lift, clean and place, playing in very wet sand bunkers with rake and place rule, playing with very little roll due to wet grass and thick rough, playing some relief on some holes due to diseased greens, and playing lots of casual water rules, all players were not feeling they were doing their best.

“These conditions definitely played a major factor in keeping most scores higher than normal.”

Maci French of Lebanon was the individual medalist with an 82, while teammate Kaitlyn Coddington and Western Boone’s Lilly Williamson tied for second overall with 85s.

Dixon’s score of 104 equaled her mark in the 18-hole Western Indiana Conference meet.

On Saturday, Dixon had two pars on the day — on the par 4 No. 6 hole and on the par 5 No. 18 hole.

Patrick was also pleased with the play of freshman Abby Simmerman, who came in early with a 106 and finished one spot away from being a regional qualifier.

“That’s a fantastic score for a freshman in her first sectional,” Patrick noted. “It took Abby almost the entire first nine holes to get into her game. Carding a 58 on the front nine, she moved to the back nine with a whole different game plan.”

Patrick noted that Simmerman cut her front-nine score by 10 strokes on the last nine holes.

“That happened thanks to more patience and better ball striking,” Patrick noted.

Simmerman was sitting in third place among non-qualifying teams when the final player from Crawfordsville, Olivia Grady, finally came in with a 93 and bumped her out of the top three spots.

Patrick noted that Emily Eltz played a very strong front nine with a 54.

“Several bad drives and high putting numbers pushed her to 58 on her second nine,” she said. “The 112 was 15 strokes better than last year.”

Jadin Nunez in her first 18-hole sectional, managed to card a 152.

“Once Jadin gets more skilled at the ball striking skills, she will become a valuable asset to the team next year,” Patrick said.

The regional tourney is hosted by Indianapolis Roncalli and will be played at Smock Golf Course.

“As Taylor heads into practice for the regionals, she knows what she can shoot in very abnormal course conditions, and only hope for a better playing day at Smock,” Patrick said.

Crawfordsville sectional

Team scores (top three advance to regional) — Lebanon 343, North Montgomery 399, Western Boone 401, Southmont 456, Attica 463, Crawfordsville 467, North Putnam 474, Seeger 502.

Top three finishers — Maci French (Lebanon) 82, Lilly Williamson (Western Boone) 85, Kaitlyn Coddington (Lebanon) 85.

Top three finishers from non-qualifying teams — Olivia Grady (Crawfordsville) 93, Madison Kresler (Attica) 104, Taylor Dixon (North Putnam) 104.

Northview postponed

Saturday’s Northview sectional — including Greencastle, South Putnam and Cloverdale — was postponed due to heavy overnight rainfall.

The golfers will tee off at 9 a.m. today at Forest Park in Brazil.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: