Fuetter shoots 94 at regionals

Saturday, September 28, 2013
Cloverdale sophomore Harlee Fuetter hits a drive during the back nine at Smock Golf Course, site of the IHSAA golf regional on Saturday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cloverdale's Harlee Fuetter chipped in to save par on her first hole at the Indiana High School Athletic Association regional on Saturday, showing patience, maturity and grit.

Not bad for a sophomore who didn't expect to get past sectionals when the season began six weeks ago.

"I never expected this at all," Fuetter said. "Being a sophomore and being able to make it this far is huge."

Fuetter finished her round with a 94, 11 strokes away from qualifying for next week's state finals.

It was a long, grueling day at Smock Golf Course. Her round started 20 minutes after the scheduled tee time and took nearly six hours.

"She kept grinding the whole way," CHS coach Matthew Langdon said. "Today really shows where she's at with this level of competition and allows her to work for the next couple of years."

Fuetter's style, no matter what the conditions, is to be a patient golfer and keep the ball in play. That patience was tested with a five-minute wait on nearly every tee box.

The weather was perfect, but the slow play made it tough to string together momentum or, after a rare bad hole, get momentum back.

She made the best of it. Playing three other golfers, each for the first time, Fuetter led the group and passed the time joking with her competitors.

Fuetter was the low-scorer in her group, which included Ashleigh Davids (Beech Grove, 96), Kelsey Reeves (Southwestern, 106) and Heather Ruby (Southmont, 106).

"I always have a really good time golfing with new people," she said. "It was just a really long, exhausting day."

Harlee Fuetter analyzes the course during a stop in action. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Having fun and gaining experience at the event was the most important part of the whole day, Langdon said. This marked the fourth year in a row that Cloverdale has had an individual qualify for regionals. Sydney Shrum, now a freshman golfing at Valparaiso, gained her first regional experience as a sophomore in 2010.

Langdon said he took from what he learned coaching in the postseason the last few years and passed it along to his young golfer.

"I think it's a part of the process; not many girls come here their first time at regionals and get to state," he said. "I was able to pass Sydney's experience along to her. 'Everything you can get out of today, get out of it because if you can get back here your junior and senior year you can set some new goals for yourself.'"

Zionsville (309), Carmel (311) and Madison (332) all qualified for the state finals as teams. The top five individuals not on a qualifying team also advance. That group includes Abby Gleixner (Roncalli, 74), Kiley Swisher (Seeger, 80), Katie Vaux (Perry Meridian, 80), Danielle Warthen (Mooresville, 80) and Sarah Baxter (Guerin Catholic, 81).

Zionsville's Lucy Stevens was medalist. She finished at 72. Fuetter had the 10th-lowest score for an individual qualifier. Starting on the back nine in the second-to-last group of the day, she finished both sides at 47 and no holes worse than seven strokes.

The round wasn't Fuetter's best of the year -- she had a 90 at sectionals last week and made the all-county and all-conference teams -- but it set a high bar for her future.

Fuetter began this season expecting to compete and work hard. As a junior, she'll be expected to succeed.

"At the beginning of the season she may not have thought this was possible," Langdon said. "She'll put a good offseason in and I think she'll be happy to try and get back here next year and maybe have a little different goals if she can make it back."

That pressure is just fine with the Fuetter. She knows what it's going to take to get back, and making regionals this year only made her want a return trip even more.

"Oh yeah," she said. "I'll just put in more hours and work harder."

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  • donantonioelsabio: You seem to get off on putting people down. Is no one good enough for you? Get a life. You're not as "sabio" as you think.

    -- Posted by Ben Dover on Sun, Sep 29, 2013, at 9:11 AM
  • The BG needs to get rid of spell-check and proof read their work. This article reads as though it were written by someone who doesn't speak our language!

    "the for the next few years"

    "has had in individual qualify"

    "in ** place" and ** strokes"

    "It was long, grueling day"

    "made her first regional experience as a sophomore in 2010." (appearance?)

    "get back her next year" here, not her!

    You need to do better!

    -- Posted by Geologist on Sun, Sep 29, 2013, at 9:19 AM
  • She might have done even better if the school would have allowed her to go to Smock the day before to practice on the course as the other competitors were allowed to do.

    -- Posted by becker on Sun, Sep 29, 2013, at 12:31 PM
  • @ Ben Dover--why is asking if a student can read and write a put down??? Sports are good for students, but how many can go to college on a sports scholarship? And amount to something?? The ancient Romans had a clear statement, "Mens sana in corpore sano". (A healthy mind in a healthy body.) You may think I am not so "sabio" but I bet I could talk you under the table in Spanish!!!

    -- Posted by donantonioelsabio on Tue, Oct 1, 2013, at 6:04 PM
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