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Newbys, Dresbach take aim at IHSAA Girls’ Golf Regional
By Trent Scott
Sports Editor
The penultimate round of girls’ golf takes place this weekend as the IHSAA Girls’ Golf Regional round will be played out Saturday morning.
The regional now features a sixth location after changes made to the state tournament at the end of the 2021-22 school year, adding a new site and allowing for three additional teams to make the state finals, the trade off being one less individual qualifier at each site, meaning only the top-two individuals will advance.
Those will be the conditions for South Putnam’s Madie and Alie Newby and North Putnam’s Kylie Dresbach, the former two traveling to Country Oaks GC for the Washington Regional while the latter heads north to Battleground GC for the Lafayette Jeff Regional.
Madie Newby, who qualified for the Roncalli Regional a year ago, said advancing from the sectional the first time was enjoyable and doing it a second time was just as important.
“It was a great way to end the season and I took it as a way to have some fun,” Madie Newby said about qualifying for the regional as a junior. “I’m a senior this year and will take regional as seriously as I can while knowing it could be my last high school golf experience.
“I’m still going to have as much fun as I can with it.”
Alie Newby piped Madie for the second individual qualifier spot at the Northview Sectional last week, shooting 92 to her older sister’s 93.
“I didn’t play as well as I was going to but I’m still happy I was able to get out of sectionals and continue to play one more week,” Madie Newby said about the sectional round.
“I was genuinely surprised by how well I played,’ Alie Newby added. “Even though I really like the course and do my best at that course, I was still surprised by how well I played.
“I just kept a good attitude all day and that’s why I felt I did so good.”
Dresbach, meanwhile, shot 90 to secure the third and final individual qualifier spot from the Attica Sectional at Harrison Hills GC.
“It was really nice,” Dresbach said about the sectional round. “It was a great day to play golf.
“My opponents were nice and it was a good round. The course was more challenging than some of the courses we’ve played but it was not overbearing. It wasn’t the hardest course I’ve played but it wasn’t simple.”
Instead of heading to Indianapolis, the Newbys will be heading to Washington, taking on the same course that the boys’ golf teams have traveled to in past seasons.
Doing so on the course together will make the experience all the better.
“It’s pretty special,” Madie Newby said. “Last year, I went by myself and it wasn’t necessarily lonely but knowing (Alie) is playing behind me keeps me going, keeps me playing so I don’t get down on myself.”
“It’s easier on me if (Madie) is playing in front of me because I can see her and it gives me motivation to keep going well,” Alie Newby added.
The only change both Newbys would have would have been to have the full squad on the course as the Eagles finished fourth at the sectional.
“We were close this year,” Madie Newby said about the gap to third-place Terre Haute North, which was 12 strokes. “It would have been super cool to have either the entire team go or have Mackenzie (Lovett) go with us.
“It would have been cool to have the top-three individuals all from one team go to the regional.”
For all three golfers, Saturday will be a new experience with the courses, Country Oaks and Battleground, being new for the trio.
Practice rounds this week gave each golfer a chance to learn the lay of the land ahead of Saturday’s round with all three noting they would be looking at similar items throughout the round.
“I’ve never been on the course and never really been in the area,” Alie Newby said about the new regional site. “We’ll look at how fast the greens are so we know how to putt, which is a really important thing to know before we play.
“We’ll also look to see where we should land the ball of our drives, which is another important thing to know.”
“All I know is that it’s narrow,” Madie Newby added. “Forrest Park is wide open, so you can miss and still be okay but at Washington, you don’t have that kind of leeway.
“We’ll look for hazards and, for me, I have a terrible slice right, so if there’s trees on the right, I’ll need to see how far left to aim.”
“I’ll look to learn the layout, the range off the tee box and to figure out what clubs I need to use,” Dresbach said ahead of the rounds at Battleground. “I also try to pay attention to the speed and slopes of the green.”
Temperatures Saturday morning will also be lower than most of the season, something Dresbach said would play into how the beginning of the rounds played out.
“It will be a big difference,” Dresbach said about the cooler start to the round. “No one wants to be cold yet be restricted by clothing.
“The temperature also affects how the ball is bouncing and rolling.”
With only two spots available to advance to the finals and tough fields to navigate, all three golfers said they intended to enjoy their outings.
“This definitely makes me hopeful for next season,” Dresbach said. “New opponents will come in and you never have the same season but making the regional keeps me hopeful that I’ve accomplished things and can take things further.
“I don’t usually keep a number in mind for a round but I’ll look to shoot my best possible round and enjoy the day.”
“I just want to have fun,” Madie Newby said. “Regionals is difficult and if I can make it out, it would be super awesome, but my expectations are to have fun.
“That’s my expectations as well, to have fun,” Alie Newby added. ‘It’s also my first time out to regionals as well, so I want to gain that experience and hopefully make it out next year while taking it more seriously, sort of how Madie is doing it this year.”