Eagles win Putnam County Golf Meet

Friday, September 15, 2006

BY ASHLEY HARDIN
Staff Writer

The South Putnam High School girls' golf team took home the win at the Putnam County Golf Meet at Clover Meadows on Thursday.

The Eagles finished the day with a 207 followed by Cloverdale with a 227 and Greencastle with a 243.

South Putnam coach Debbie Steffy said the win was great for her team.

"I'm proud of our kids. We've had a great season," Steffy said.

Greencastle coach Brad Kingma was also pleased with his team this season.

"It was a good year, and it was good to see them improve," Kingma said.

One school at the meet did not have a team. As she has done all season, North Putnam's Alyssa Simpson competed as an individual at the county meet.

But competing as an individual served her well as Simpson took home the county medalist honors after recording a 42 at the meet.

North Putnam coach Keith Bodnarick said that he thinks Simpson had hoped to do even better than her winning score, but he was pleased with her performance.

"All-in-all she played really well," Bodnarick said.

Following Simpson on the All-County team was South Putnam's Emily Zimmerman.

Zimmerman recorded a 43 for her first-place team.

Bodnarick said he didn't know of any golfers that were more deserving of the first- and second-place finishes in the county.

"I was kind of glad it came down to Alyssa and Emily," Bodnarick said.

Rounding out the rest of the All-County team was Cloverdale's Courtney Williams, who finished in third place with a 48 at her home meet.

South Putnam then had the No. 4 and No. 5 golfers in Heather Hughes and Chelsea Clark, with scores of 51 and 56, respectively.

The sixth-place All-County spot was a tie between five golfers, all of whom had recorded a 57.

These golfers were Tosha Fisher of South Putnam, Dana Norman and Liz Poor of Greencastle, Grace Aker of South Putnam and Kate Chambers of Cloverdale.

Other golfers not making the All-County team at the meet were Cloverdale's Liz Rich with a 60 and Paige Cassida with a 62. Jessica Pasho, Blaine Johnston and Briana Martin of Greencastle carded scores of 64, 65 and 77, respectively.

Kingma said he has already seen the improvement in Poor's golfing since last season, but he was pleased with the improvement of two other golfers throughout the year.

"To see Jess (Pasho) and Briana shooting in the lower 60s was good," Kingma said of this season's progress.

Steffy said the South Putnam golfers have worked hard and deserved to win the county meet, but she added that they aren't through yet.

With sectionals on Saturday, the team still has one day to practice, and they will be working on course management as Steffy said that several players have never competed at West Chase Golf Club in Brownsburg, where the sectional meet will be played.

Kingma said his team entered this season with a lot of inexperience and with a simple goal to get better. Now that sectionals are on the horizon, their goals are no different.

"We are just really looking to improve," Kingma said.

Bodnarick said Simpson's solo season has proven to be a real accomplishment for her, and as in past years Simpson's goal at Saturday's sectional, where she will once again compete as an individual, is to advance to the regional.

The girls' golf sectional will take place at West Chase Golf Club in Brownsburg on Saturday at 9 a.m.

At Clover Meadows

Putnam County Golf Meet

South Putnam 207, Cloverdale 227, Greencastle 243

South Putnam -- Zimmerman 43, Hughes 51, Clark 56, Fisher 57, Aker 57

Cloverdale -- Williams 48, Chambers 57, Rich 60, Cassida 62

Greencastle -- Norman 57, Poor 57, Pasho 64, Johnston 65, Martin 77

North Putnam -- 42

Next Meet -- All county teams will compete in the golf sectional on Saturday at West Chase Golf Club in Brownsburg at 9 a.m.

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