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North Putnam tops the field at Putnam County Golf Match
CLOVERDALE – After a four-year stay at the top of the county girls’ golf standings was broken last year, North Putnam made a quick return to the top spot Monday night.
The Cougars shot 216 as a team at Clover Meadows, placing three golfers in the All-County positions and a fourth just outside, to reclaim the team title at the Putnam County Golf Match.
South Putnam, who won the title in 2022, finished second on 230 with Alie Newby winning medalist honors over North Putnam’s Gabbi Simonson in a playoff after both shot 47 for the round.
Cloverdale finished third on 245 while Greencastle did not have enough members for a team score yet still claimed two All-County spots.
Moran Mason and Madison Houser shot 56 to back Simonson, placing sixth and seventh, to earn All-County honors with Kaitlyn Jacobs a shot back on 57 and finishing ninth to round out the team score. Aubrey Crowe was not far behind on 60.
“Any day you can come out on top is a good day,” North Putnam coach Earl Hall said. “We were close to having four All-County golfers but the girls are happy with the win, so we don’t have any complaints.
“Gabbi had a really good round; we had played here twice earlier this season and she hadn’t broken into the 40s in either round, so it was a good time for that to happen. She was nervous with the playoff but I told her there were 15 other girls who wished they could have gotten that spot, so take the victory for what it was.”
Mackenzie Lovett joined Newby in the All-County ranks with a round of 52, placing fourth overall, with Faith Wiggins, Kloee Pastore and Bella Fanning within three shots of one another on 65, 66 and 68 respectively.
“As a team, we had a rough night, but we’re proud of Mackenzie and Alie,” South Putnam coach Jill Newton said. “Alie has had a comeback story of the year, having torn an ACL in May, and to come back as Putnam County champion is an amazing feat.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her. It shows her perseverance, what it says of her as a person and what the future holds for her.”
Celeste Terrell led Cloverdale with a round of 56, finishing a stroke outside the All-County positions in eighth place, with Gracie Haga a shot back on 58, finishing 10th overall. Autumn Wheeler shot 61 and Payton Watkins turned in a round of 69.
“We’re really disappointed as two weeks ago, we shot in the low 200s,” Cloverdale coach Jaime Steffy said. “We thought if we continued to improve, we’d come in here and win this thing.
“Everything hit us at once since then between illness, injury and a variety of other things that have happened so that we haven’t had the same team out there when we were playing extremely well. The girls are disappointed but that doesn’t take away from an outstanding season the girls have had this year.”
Emma Callahan finished third overall on 49 and Grace Long shot 56 to finish fifth as both Greencastle golfers earned All-County honors. Hannah McLaughlin shot 65 for the Tiger Cubs for the round.
“We got two golfers that got All-County spots and, as we weren’t competing for a team score, that’s what you want to see,” Greencastle coach Brad Kingma said. “Emma was able to get under 50, which was good; she had a couple of tough holes but also birdied No. 5.
“Grace can hit the ball like anybody and we’re really pleased with her progress. It’s great to see their efforts the last couple of years really paying off.”