Tiger Cubs win season opener against Bulldogs

Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Lauren Bridgewater hits an approach to the No. 7 green in Monday's season opener.

The Greencastle girls' golf team began its season with a win over visiting Monrovia Monday. The Tiger Cubs and Bulldogs tied with a score of 217 and had to go the fifth score card. Since the Bulldogs only fielded four golfers, GHS player Lauren Bridgewater provided the deciding score to secure the Tiger Cubs victory.

"There was some inconsistent play, so that's something we'll have to work through. But 217 is not a bad start. We'll be able to work on that and be able to get that down," GHS head coach Brad Kingma said.

Katie Hedge led the Tiger Cubs with a medalist round of 43, followed by McKenzie St. Marie and Jessie Bennett with a pair of 54s. Liz Johnson shot a 66, while Bridgewater shot a 77 and Kourtnee Vickery a 78.

"Katie is going to be a really good player for us and that's about average," Kingma said. "She can shoot better out here. In the past she struggled with some really bad rounds, so keeping the round like this or better will be really important for us.

"Then Kenzie and Jessie -- this is Kenzie's third year and she's starting to hit the ball really well, but she still struggles at times with dealing with the bad shots. When she hits a bad shot or on the putting green, she kind of loses focus. I think that's a score that's going to start coming down," he added.

Bennett joins the team for her first season, but as Kingma explained, she's got the talent, it's just a matter of getting her on the course day in and day out. She played golf on the eighth grade team, but has played volleyball most of her high school career.

Johnson provided the deciding score, but her coach is expecting to see more out of her as her rounds leading up to the opener showed she has that ability.

"She can do a lot better. She's had some practice rounds out here over the summer in the low 50s. She just lost it today and had trouble getting it back. Hopefully it's a first match kind of a thing. We'll see," Kingma said.

Chrislyn Church led the way for Monrovia after shooting a 45. She was followed by Meredith Knieper with 48, Erin Hays with 54 and Chelsea Hamilton with a 70.

Greencastle will next be in action at the McCutcheon Invite Thursday at 8 a.m.

At Windy Hill

Greencastle 217*, Monrovia 217

Medalist -- Hedge (GHS) 43

Greencastle -- Hedge 43, St. Marie 54, Bennett 54, Johnson 66, Bridgewater 77, Vickery 78

Monrovia -- Church 45, Knieper 48, Hays 54, Hamilton 70

*won on fifth card tie-breaker

Next match -- Greencastle will next be in action at the McCutcheon Invite Thursday at 8 a.m.