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Clovers set course record, win County
CLOVERDALE -- In the game of golf it's all about peaking at the right time. It seems the Cloverdale Clovers are doing it at just the right time. Coming off a record-setting performance Wednesday, the Clovers set another score record at the Putnam County match and in the process eclipsed the course record as well.
Cloverdale won the crown with a 176, followed by South Putnam with a 190, Greencastle with a 210 and North Putnam with a 234. South Putnam's Heather Hughes earned medalist honors with a score of 37.
For CHS head coach Ken Williams, Thursday was the culmination of a season of hard work and his team achieving what he knew they could.
"This is what we shoot for. I talked to the girls, I'm kind of team oriented, they're kind of individual oriented -- that's the nature of this sports, but they did a great job tonight," Williams said.
The Clovers were led by Victoria Boyette who shot a 40, with Sydney Shrum adding a 44, Elizabeth Wiley a 45 and Kayla Langdon a 47. Brooke Thompson added a 58 for CHS.
Williams acknowledged that his usual No. 1 Langdon found herself in a unique position. Knowing that she was not in contention for the low-round of the match, Williams noted that Langdon utilized some conservative play on the last few holes to help the Clovers capture the title.
Cloverdale had plenty of firepower on Thursday. They placed four members on the All-County team, with three members putting up some impressive scores.
"Elizabeth, what can you say, jeez? She played really well. Then like we've talked all year, a lot of our success depends upon Victoria and Sydney," Williams commented. "Early in the year, we had some strugglec down there in the three, four spots at times. Man, they've come alive and those two are playing.
"She made a statement tonight. After her disappointment last week, she played well Tuesday over at West Vigo, so it's just a great deal," he added.
South Putnam's Hughes seized control of the course early and never relinquished her grip. Hughes scorched the course, but it was the play of No. 5 player Robbie Urton that was impressive.
Urton turned in the Eagles' second best score of the evening, a 49, and has been coming on strong recently according to head coach Debbie Steffy.
"We had some good scores," she said. "Robbie Urton played well the other night at Tomahawk Hills and she played really well tonight. Yesterday when we came out here and played a couple holes, she really thought about where she wanted to put the ball and came out here tonight, did it and scored well."
Teammates Kelsey Searles shot a 51, while Grace Aker posted a 53 and Cierra Perry had a 56. Steffy commented following the match that she knew the night was going to be a dogfight and that some of her golfers were less than pleased with the scores they posted.
"Overall, some of the girls I'm sure are pretty displeased with their scores, a little bit higher than what they would like. You know, that's the way it goes. You have to come out here and play the day of the match. It doesn't matter what they shot yesterday or the day before," Steffy said.
She also congratulated the Clovers on their win and express how happy she was to see Boyette come out after a tough conference situation and do well.
"Cloverdale shot really well. Congratulations to them. They played the course really well," she said. "It was nice to see Victoria Boyette come in with a 40. It was a nice thing for her after last Saturday in particular, so I was glad to see that for her. We'll just get ready for Saturday and see what that brings us."
The Tiger Cubs placed two members on the All County squad and ended the night in third place.
Chelsea Samuels shot a 46 and Katie Hedge shot a 48 to make the team. Diane Wokoun added a 56 and Makenzie St. Marie shot a 60 for GHS.
"We played well; this is one of our best nine-hole scores of the year. It's good to get Chelsea and Katie All-County again," head coach Brad Kingma said.
Kingma was also looking ahead to Saturday and said it was going to be hard for his team to make it out, but that they will come to play and hopefully will see someone make it out of sectional.
For North Putnam, improvement abounded, and the Cougars are showing that they will be a force to be dealt with. After a two-year hiatus, North Putnam is back and is showing steady improvement.
"I was very pleased. They spent a lot of time yesterday practicing on the range and stuff and I said we were going to improve a few things," Cougar head coach Linda Patrick said. "I had little Ellen (Wilborn) who hasn't broke 60 this year and she finally broke it. I have Emmy (Rees), usually my last player, went down 12 strokes. Ellen went down 12 strokes, Carlie (Shearer) went down 12 strokes from Tuesday night, so we're happy."
Valerie Scott shot a 56 to lead North Putnam, with Josie Parent and Wilborn adding a pair of 58s. Shearer shot a 62 and Rees posted a 71.
While Patrick is pleased with her team, she knows that is a process. They're improving with each match and are excited with what they are seeing.
"We have a lot of growing room for the next year, but I think we're going to get there because you could tell they were excited," she said. "Their scores were in the 50s, a couple of them could do a little better than what they did, but I think we're going to have the mready for Saturday at the sectional. They're excited, I'm excited... what more can I say."
Williams noted that his Clovers are hitting their stride and it couldn't make him happier.
"You want to try to peak at the right time and it's pretty hard to predict that sometimes, but we've had some productive practices. I'm just thrilled -- I'm elated. I'm happy for all the girls," he said.
All county schools will compete at the Northview Sectional Saturday at 9 a.m.
At Cloverdale
Putnam County Match
Cloverdale 177, South Putnam 190, Greencastle 210, North Putnam 234
Medalist -- Hughes (SP) 37
Individual Scores
Cloverdale -- Boyette 40, Shrum 44, Wiley 45, Landgon 47, Thompson 58
South Putnam -- Hughes 37, Urton 49, Searles 51, Aker 53, Perry 56
Greencastle -- Samuels 46, Hedge 48, Wokoun 56, St. Marie 60
North Putnam -- Scott 56, Parent 58, Wilborn 58, Shearer 62, Rees 71
All-County Team
1. Hughes (SP), 2. Boyette (CHS), 3. Shrum (CHS), Wiley (CHS), 5. Samuels (GHS), 6. Langdon (CHS), 7. Hedge (GHS)
Next match -- All county schools will compete at the Northview Sectional Saturday at 9 a.m.