Triumphs and trials in three-way meet at Windy Hill Thursday

Friday, August 21, 2009

GREENCASTLE -- Thursday's golf match at Windy Hill was a mixture of good and bad.

Chelsea Samuels shot a personal best 43, for the course, while South Putnam's Heather Hughes' game continued to struggle.

Hughes carded a 47 Thursday and a 43 on Monday at Cloverdale.

"These last two matches have been really bad for me," Hughes said. "I really don't like this course and it got inside my head and my driver wasn't working at all.

"This course...I don't like all the hills and the greens are really fast. No offense to anyone, but that's how I view this course and I just don't play good here," Hughes said.

Hughes also mentioned that she was having more than just driver trouble Thursday.

"My driver was one of my problems," Hughes said. "I couldn't read the hills good for my chip shots with the distance and it messed me up. I just couldn't break myself of it."

Samuels' view of Windy Hill was a little different.

"I thought the course was great," Samuels said. "It's wasn't too dry or too wet in the areas I was in."

Even though she shot a personal best, Samuels said that she had some trouble Thursday.

"My putting needs a little work," Samuels said.

Putting is the one the things GHS coach Brad Kingma said his whole team needs to work on.

"We are missing too many shots and all of them are having problems with getting their putts in the hole," Kingma said.

Danville won the match, shooting a combined score of 206, while Greencastle came in second with a 224 and South Putnam finished third with 231.

"Overall the score is too high for where we are in the season," SPHS coach Debbie Steffy said.

"The girls weren't happy with the way they played. Heather shot a 47 and took a triple bogey on a par three early in her round and I just don't think ever recovered from that.

"Cierra (Perry) shot well. She shot a 53 and this was her first time playing out here," Steffy said. "This course can be a little intimidating if you let it be, so I was proud of her for that. Kelsey (Searles) struggled a little and this was Robbie's (Urton) first time playing here and she struggled on four or five holes and that hurt her score."

Searles carded a 60 for day, while Urton finished with a 71.

Greencastle's scores weren't that much off of everyone else's. Katie Hedge finished with a 51, while Diane Wokoun shot a 59. Makenzie St. Marie's score of 71 was the highest.

But even being the highest on the team, Kingma said that he has noticed some improvement in her game.

"Makenzie is starting to get better, but she is still fading towards the end," Kingma said. "She has to learn to toughen up and finish strong. She is getting better. She hasn't taken as many circles as she was in the beginning, so there has been improvement."

South Putnam will be back in action on Monday when they take on Terre Haute South at Rea Park, while Greenacastle is back in action on Monday at Danville playing the Warriors and Plainfield in a three-way meet. Both matches start at 4:30 p.m.

At Windy Hill Country Club

Team Scores -- Danville 206, Greencastle 224, South Putnam 231

Greencastle -- Samuels 43, Hedge 51, Wokoun 59, St. Marie 71

South Putnam -- Hughes 47, Perry 53, Searles 60, Urton 71

Danville -- Reeves 51, Luckey 54, Freeland 50, Taylor 51, Abbott 59

Next Match -- South Putnam will be back in action on Monday when they take on Terre Haute South at Rea Park while Greenacastle is back in action on Monday at Danville playing the Warriors and Plainfield in a three-way meet. Both matches start at 4:30 p.m.