Eagles advance to golf regional

Monday, September 17, 2007

On Saturday, three Putnam county schools competed in the Northview girls' golf sectional at Forest Park in Brazil. South Putnam scored a 369 to advance to regional, while Greencastle's 424 and Cloverdale's 442 were not good enough to continue on.

South Putnam senior Emily Zimmerman hits a drive on No. 15 at Forest Park on Saturday. Zimmerman's 86 tied with Heather Hughes for the team's low score, leading the Eagles to a regional berth.

Despite a rough front nine, the Eagles put together an impressive back nine to secure they position in third place.

"We wanted to finish in the top three and advance as a team to the regional," Eagles coach Debbie Steffy said. "As the day started out on the front nine, it looks a little scary to even come in third. Our top two golfers were not hitting the ball well at all and we were struggling on the front nine.

"But to their credit, they got it together mentally and focused and got it together on the back nine," Steffy added.

Emily Zimmerman and Heather Hughes came to the clubhouse with a pair of 86's to lead the Eagles. Zimmerman connected on a long putt on 18 to lock in her score.

Grace Aker continued her strong and steady play and scored a 93, Chelsea Clark shot a 104 and Tosha Fisher added a 121.

"Grace has been that steady person for us here recently. We can count on her for something in the mid-90's and between Chelsea and Tosha were hoping to get something around 100 from them," Steffy added.

Chelsea Samuels and Dana Norman led the Tiger Cubs with scores of 92 and 99 respectively.

"We were disappointed," GHS head coach Brad Kingma said. "We wanted to get Dana and/or Chelsea through (to regional), but they both came up short."

Greencastle's No. 4 golfer Jessica Pasho recorded the Tiger Cubs third lowest score with a 109, Kelsey Murtagh had a 124 and Ashlyn Archer scored a 136.

With the season over, Kingma is looking forward to next year and likes what he sees.

"Jessica played her best round by far. Overall it was a pretty decent year. We got a lot of good young golfers for next year coming back, so we're looking forward to that," Kingma commented.

Although his team's season came to an end on Saturday, Cloverdale head coach Ken Williams left the course with a smile.

"A different day for our Clovers today. We played pretty well," Williams said.

Cloverdale's Kayla Langdon shot an 89 to advance individually.

Sophomore Kayla Langdon led Cloverdale with a regional worthy 89. Seniors Kate Chambers shot a 109 and Paige Cassida added a 110. Elizabeth Wiley scored a 134 and Jessica Hall finished with a 150.

"Langdon has continued to improve; an 89 surprised us by a stroke or two," Williams said. "She did a great job.

"The other girls improved. Kate Chambers and Paige Cassida in particular, those two seniors went out like you want your seniors to go out. Elizabeth Wiley and Jessica Hall both improved. We're pretty happy with that score. It was a fun day," Williams commented.

With her team having only one home match this season, Steffy feels it has been good preparation for her team to deal with life on the road. The Eagles will hit the road this week to prepare for regional.

"We might practice at a few different places this week," Steffy said.

The South Putnam Eagles and Cloverdale's Kayla Langdon will travel to Martinsville's Foxcliff Golf Course at 10 a.m. Saturday.

At Brazil

Forest Park Golf Course

Team scores

Terre Haute South 343, Northview 31, South Putnam 369, Terre Haute North 391, Greencastle 424, Cloverdale 442, West Vigo 467, Owen Valley 495, South Vermillion 524.

Individual scores

(Putnam County only)

South Putnam -- Zimmerman 86, Hughes 86, Aker 93, Fisher 121, Clark 104.

Greencastle -- Norman 99, Samuels 92, Murtagh 124, Pasho 109, Archer 136.

Clovedale -- Chambers 109, Langdon 89, Cassida 110, Wiley 134, Hall 150.

Next match -- The South Putnam Eagles and Cloverdale's Kayla Langdon, will travel to Martinsville's Foxcliff Golf Course at 10 a.m. Saturday.

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