Eagle golfers lead county squads in WIC girls' golf

Monday, August 27, 2018
Five Putnam County golfers finished in the top 15 on Monday to earn all-Western Indiana Conference honors. Those honored were (from left) North Putnam’s Abby Simmerman, Cloverdale’s Sammie Shrum, Greencastle’s Bailey Shuee and South Putnam’s Drew Steffy and Leighla Hazlett.
Contributed photo

BRAZIL — South Putnam topped Putnam County teams in the Western Indiana Confernce girls’ golf tournament on Monday at Forest Park.

The Eagles placed sixth among the 12 teams in the competition that was postponed from Saturday due to weather.

North Putnam finished seventh, five strokes behind the Eagles, while Greencastle and Cloverdale tied for eighth.

Five individuals from Putnam County schools placed in the top 16 to earn all-conference, with each school being represented.

Bailey Shuee of Greencastle was second overall with an 81, just two strokes behind champion Ashley Mosteller of Brown County.

Sammie Shrum of Cloverdale shot an 89 to tie for seventh place, while South Putnam’s Drew Steffy had a 91 to finish ninth.

Leighla Hazlett of South Putnam and Abby Simmerman of North Putnam were among five players tied for 10th place with a 95.

Coaches’ comments

South Putnam’s Cassie Lehmann — “The girls came to play today. There were a few shots that really hurt us, but the girls picked themselves up and made some great recovery shots. Leighla Hazlett started her day with a bogey on her first hole. Drew Steffy sank a few long putts that really helped her game. Kate McCammack had a few great drives off the tee and came in with a score of 110 that helped us a great deal. Alex Steffy shot our fourth score of the day with a few holes just inches from par, getting a score of 122. Kortnee Starks is coming off of an injury and played a nice round with a 134. All in all the girls really put their heart on the golf course and played a great round for the conference. Beating the other three county schools was our goal, and we accomplished that for the second time this season. “

Greencastle’s Steve Paquin — “Bailey Shuee played good consistent golf on both nines, she made a birdie and numerous pars during her outstanding round. Her worst score was a double bogey on No. 6. This is the second year Bailey has made all conference, beating her last year’s score by three shots. She probably could have been medalist, but she hit a few shots too far over the greens resulting in a few bogeys. Molly Ramey improved her score from last year by 36 shots from 135 last year to 99 this year. Molly was able to par numerous holes and did not have a double par score during her round. She missed all-conference by one shot. Her ball striking was very good, but struggled a little on the greens. Kadence Shaner had her best score in her short high school career shooting a 125. She has shown dramatic improvement in all phases of the game since the beginning of the season. Jennifer Scott and Serena Patch struggled with consistently hitting the ball toward the green and getting the ball in the hole in less than double par. I can see improvement in both of their ball striking, but chipping and putting are still causing them problems. As a team we are getting better and will continue to get better as the season winds down.

North Putnam’s Linda Patrick — “As we head to the end of the golf season in the next three weeks, many Lady Cougar golfers are starting to see the fruits of their hard work from practices and seeing lower scores on the card. After experiencing a rainout on Saturday, the girls had a weekend off to prepare for the conference battle. Abby Simmerman carded a 95, which placed her on the all-conference team. With more fairways hits and more pars, Abby was able to secure the 10th spot. Haylee Greene and Brittany Bonifacius came in with a 106 and 109 respectively, also showing improvement in decreasing double bogeys to bogies and a few pars. Nyiah Goff shot a 113, showing a great front nine score but encountered a more difficult back 9. Also showing more bogeys than double bogeys was Grace Timm, carding a 118. I was extremely pleased with how the team played and feel that all girls still have a little room for improvement before sectionals. We are still having some major pitching problems and club choice selection problems.”

WIC girls’ golf

Team standings

1. Northview 372

2. Indian Creek 384

3. Brown County 393

4. Edgewood 398

5. Cascade 403

6. South Putnam 418

7. North Putnam 423

8. (tie) Greencastle 436

8. (tie) Cloverdale 436

10.Owen Valley 470

11.Sullivan 501

12.West Vigo 503

All-conference (top 16)

1. Ashley Mosteller (BC) 79

2. Bailey Shuee (G) 81

3. (tie) Brooklee Bussine (N) 85

3. (tie) Jacqui Button (IC) 85

5. Sophia Buell (N) 87

6. Caitlyn Snyder (IC) 88

7. (tie) Kailea Covey (E) 89

7. (tie) Sammie Shrum (Cl) 89

9. Drew Steffy (SP) 91

10. (tie) Leighla Hazlett (SP) 95

10. (tie) Abby Simmerman (NP) 95

10. (tie) Lauren Parsley (IC) 95

10. (tie) Dixie Short (Ca) 95

10. (tie) Anna Littrell (Ca) 95

15. (tie) Madison Deckard (E) 98

15. (tie) Abigail Drake (N) 98

County player scores

South Putnam (418) — Drew Steffy 47-44—91, Leighla Hazlett 48-47—95, Kate McCammack 56-54—110, Alex Steffy 60-62—122, Kortnee Starks 61-73—134.

North Putnam (423) — Abby Simmerman 45-50—95, Haylee Greene 54-52—106, Brittany Bonifacius 49-60—109, Nyiah Goff 53-60-—113, Grace Timm 54-64 —188.

Greencastle (436) — Bailey Shuee 39-42—81, Molly Ramey 49-50—99, Kadence Shaner 60-65—125, Jennifer Scott 62-29—131, Serena Patch 69-68137

Cloverdale (436) — Sammie Shrum 44-45—89, Grace Leonard 48-54—102, Libby Dominguez 54-67—121, Gayle Baugh 58-66—124, Michaela Nees 62-65 —127.

In other golf:

Greencastle 210, Owen Valley 216 — In a creative scheduling event, Greencastle defeated Owen Valley on Monday in nine-hole action taking place during the WIC tournament.

Bailey Shuee of Greencastle was the medalist with a 39, while Molly Ramey shot a 49, Kadence Shaner shot a 60, Jennifer Scott shot a 62 and Serena Patch shot a 67 as the Cubs won their first dual match of the season.

“If we didn’t play on Monday our match would have been cancelled because neither school could find a makeup date,” Greencastle coach Steve Paquin said. “Bailey shot a very fine front nine 39 to lead the Cubs. She had a tap-in birdie on hole No. 2, a 100-yard par three, and numerous pars to finish with a three-over-par 36.”

Paquin noted that Ramey had her best nine-hole score of the year.

“This should give the girls confidence that they are improving and will continue to improve throughout the season,” he said.