Eagles open season Thursday

Thursday, August 14, 2014

South Putnam's girls' golf finally jumped in to the 2014 golf season by hosting North Montgomery Thursday night, applying their craft at their new home down at Clover Meadows.

Sporting only four golfers on the squad, the Eagles met the same fate as North Putnam did against the Chargers, falling 191-259.

In his first match as girls' head coach, Kevin Metz said the hosts were excited to simply get a round of golf in.

"I was proud of the girls tonight," Metz said. "We had two girls play tonight who had not played nine holes, even in practice.

We've been working primarily on hitting shots and having a little bit of fun. The main thing right not is finding enjoyment in playing so they stick with it.

"Carlee and Alicia are our veterans right now," Mets added. "There were going to be nerves. I told them the first one is always the hardest and North Montgomery is a very good team.

"This was going to be a good starting round for us and there is always room for improvement as the year goes on."

Alicia Haywood led the squad with a round of 56, followed by Kristi Wood's 62. Senior Carlee Schlatter came in at 66 while Israel Porter capped the scoring with a 75.

Kennedy Bonwell took medalist honors for North Montgommery with a round of 45, followed by a pair of 47s from Abbey Woodard and Megan Douglas. Kristen Glass rounded out the scoring with a 52 while Flannery Thompson came in at 65 and Scout Groves shot 67.

Ball striking was a key for the Eagles Thursday night and Metz said that focusing on that area would help the squad in the long haul.

"The biggest thing I've been looking for is consistency," Metz said. "We're working on making contact with the ball, which we struggled with coming out of the gates.

"I've told them that even if the ball only goes 10 feet, they need to make good contact. Ten feet will turn into 10 yards, which will turn into 20 yards and then keeps on going from there.

"We'll keep working on our putting and our touch around the green," Metz added. "We struggled a little bit with that tonight but that will come with time. The more we do it the better we'll get."

Returning to action on Monday, South Putnam will play the role of hosts against

Cloverdale.

Metz said that seeing a county foe for the first time would be another step in the squad's progression.

"I've talked with (Cloverdale head coach Matthew) Langdon while we've been here and I expect he'll have a good team this year," Metz said. "They played the back nine last year so they have experience out there, probably more than we do at right now.

"It will be good for us to have a good little challenge and to see what kind of competition we're going to be up against this year. Hopefully it will motivate our girls to want to work hard and continue to get better."


At Clover Meadows

North Montgomery 191, South Putnam 259


Medalist ญญ-- Kennedy Bonwell (NM) 45

Individual Scores

South Putnam -- Haywood 56, Wood 62, Schlatter 66, Porter 75

North Montgomery -- Bonwell 45, Woodard 47, Douglas 47, Glass 52, Thompson 65, Groves 67

Next Match: South Putnam hosts Cloverdale Monday.

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