Terre Haute South rules girls golf sectional
Sep. 15—Terre Haute South captured its third IHSAA girls golf sectional crown in the past four years — by a wide margin this time — that followed with little fanfare as the frontrunner coming in Friday.
The Braves won by 78 strokes in front of second-place Terre Haute North. Parke Heritage joined the pair of schools in progression to the regional tournament next Saturday at Country Oaks Golf Club in Montgomery.
The Braves who won several events this year, including the Conference Indiana league championship are seeking a top-three finish in Montgomery to reach the state title round for the first time since 1988 — the school's lone state berth.
South coach Cara Stuckey said the goal is to contend for regional hardware, not just advance.
Sophomore Avery Cassell was medalist with a 77. She said the team is capable of shooting better after the group posting a 312 at Forest Park.
"Coming off Monday [the Conference Indiana championship], with our win there, we felt confident coming into today," Cassell said. "We were favored to win. I felt like we didn't take it as [seriously] as we should [have] but we still came out on top and that's what matters."
Presley White and Gabrielle Blakeney made it a clean sweep of the top three scores for South in the sectional, one stroke behind Cassell, with a 78. The course is a par-71.
The team's depth was on display as its five competitors had the top five scores Friday, including Abi English's 82, which didn't count toward the team score which is reserved for four scores.
"Today I thought we were really consistent with our top five scores and I thought it was really important after we played Monday to come back and have another good performance today," Stuckey said.
The Patriots scored a 390. They were paced by Delaney Ferres, who shot an 87. North's search for a sectional title dates back to 2016. The Braves have won five in that time frame.
The Patriots rose to the occasion this year. First-year coach Abbey Abel said the four players after Ferres notched personal-high scores. Allyson McDonald with a 91, Kendall Nicoson at 99, Aubrey Ervin had a 114 and Ella Tapy shot a 113.
The Braves shared the regional course Aug. 5 in the Washington Invitational and shot a 402, while South shot a 316.
Ferres' 79 was her best mark of the year, according to MaxPreps.com.
"[Ferres] led our team just like she usually does," said Abel, the former Saint Mary-of-the-Woods golfer. "She sets a fantastic example for the rest of the girls. She always goes out just wanting to put herself in a position to score. She played fantastic last time at Country Oaks. I definitely think she will do it again. She wasn't extremely happy with her score today, but I just think that's going to fuel her to be better on Saturday."
The Wolves scored a 402 to beat out Northview's score of 416 and booked the last regional ticket from this sectional. Phoebe Henderson led the way with a 93.
Three individuals qualified for the regional tourney, including Wabash Valley standouts Alexa Newby for South Putnam, who shot a 93, and South Vermillion senior Jordan Smith, who shot a 102.
"Today I kind of started off pretty rough on the putting green and driving range, but whenever I got out there and teed off it all kind of just started flowing and I got into a rhythm," Smith said.
When she was announced as the third golfer to progress during the sectional ceremony, she was filled with glee.
"[Regional] was not in my foreseeable future," Smith said. "I did not think about it going into [sectional]. I think on the second hole, I started getting into it and was like, 'OK, I think I know what to do now.'
"This is happening, I'm still playing golf after this."
