Eagles edge Tiger Cubs, Clovers for County

Friday, September 16, 2011
Cloverdale's Sydney Shrum
The South Putnam Eagles won the 2011 Putnam County Tournament Thursday by one stroke over Greencastle and Cloverdale. Members of the Eagles team include Caitlyn Boyce, Kyndra Boyce, Madison Cash, Jessie McKean, Sarah Woodworth, Clair Perry, Emily Urton, Kady McKean, Kaitlyn Stanton and head coach Brian McClure.

CLOVERDALE -- After only 23 strokes separated the four county girls' golf squad at conference Saturday, fans marked their calendars knowing that Thursday's countymatch was shaping up to be a tight one.

The county golfers didn't disappoint. When it was all said and done, South Putnam took the 2011 Putnam County match with a 208, with Greencastle and Cloverdale nipping at their tail feathers with a pair of 209s. North Putnam placed fourth with a score of 225. The Tiger Cubs were awarded second place due to their fifth score.

"We're very excited," South Putnam head coach Brian McClure said. "I'm very proud of the girls. They've been working really hard and came out here and had a good practice yesterday. They wanted this bad and it's good to see it pay off for them. We're excited for them."

The conditions were cool and breezy, but the golfers withstood the gusty winds to post some nice scores. Cloverdale's Sydney Shrum was the individual medalist of the match with a round of 40. She was followed by Greencastle's Katie Hedge with a 45 and teammate Victoria Boyette with a 47 landing the trio on the All-County squad.

Rounding out the All-County selections were South Putnam's Caitlyn Boyce with a 47 and Madison Cash with a 48, North Putnam's Meagan Schutter with a 49 and Greencastle's Jessie Bennett with a 52.

In addition to Boyce and Cash's rounds, South Putnam received solid rounds from Jessie McKean with a 55, Kyndra Boyce with a 58 and Sarah Woodworth with a 60.

Greencastle head coach Brad Kingma said he knew it would be a race to the finish after the scores posted at the conference meet.

"Congratulations to them (South Putnam), but coming in I think all of us knew that any team could win it and those scores proved that," he said with a smile.

Greencastle was led by Hedge's round of 45 and Bennett's round of 52. Kenzie St. Marie shot a 55, with Lauren Bridgewater adding a 57 and Liz Johnson adding a 63. Kingma liked the transformation he saw from his team after their performance at conference Saturday.

"Anything after Saturday was an improvement, particularly mentally. No one lost their cool and so just growing up as people is something I think I saw a lot better today. They hit bad shots and for the most part they were able to go ahead and continue. That's really important," Kingma said.

Kingma was also pleased with the performance of his No. 5 golfer and what she was able to provide for the team Thursday.

"My No. 5 (Bridgewater) played so much better," Kingma said. "She came in with a score that we needed to at least get second, but then she takes a wrong ball penalty -- two strokes. But you know it's just one of those learning things that we'll grow from and that's what you need to do."

The host Clovers were paced by medalist Shrum's 40, with Boyette adding 47. Following their Cloverdale teammates were Makayla Moore with around of 56, Danni Ellebrecht a round of 66 and Anna Spencer a round of 69.

North Putnam's Schutter's round of 49 was the first sub-50 round of her career to lead the Cougars. Valerie Scott followed with a round of 56, with Ellen Wilborn and Josie Parent posting rounds of 60 and Courtney Smith adding a round of 61.

Looking forward to Saturday's sectional contest, McClure hopes to see a carry over from Thursday's round.

"Hopefully we can just carry the momentum into Saturday. We had a pretty good run at conference and now a great round here today and hopefully we can just duplicate that on Saturday when we go to Forest Park," McClure said.

He said it was big for Cash to be able to bounce back after a tough stretch this season to produce a score good enough to land her on the All-County squad. He also said it was a team effort that got the job done.

"Everybody did their part and it was enough to win -- barely -- but it was enough," McClure said with a laugh.

The four county teams will compete at the Northview Sectional Saturday at 9 a.m.

At Clover Meadows

South Putnam 208, Greencastle 208*, Cloverdale 208, North Putnam 225

Individual Scores

Medalist -- Shrum (CHS) 40

South Putnam -- C. Boyce 47, Cash 48, McKean 55, K. Boyce 58, Woodworth 60

Greencastle -- Hedge 45, Bennett 52, St. Marie 55, Bridewater 57, Johnson 63

Cloverdale -- Shrum 40, Boyete 47, Moore 56, Ellebrecht 66, Spencer 69

North Putnam -- Schutter 49, Scott 56, Wilborn 60, Parent 60, Smith 61

All-County Members

1. Shrum (CHS) 40, 2. Hedge (GHS) 45, 3. Boyette (CHS) 47, 4. C. Boyce (SP) 47, 5. Cash (SP) 48, 6. Schutter (NP) 49, 7. Bennett (GHS) 52

Next match -- The four county teams will compete at the Northview Sectional Saturday at 9 a.m.