Westfield one ahead of Carmel in girls state golf; Penn 9th, Northridge 12th after first round
CARMEL — With senior Samantha Brown leading the way with the only sub-par individual round, a four-under 68, No. 4-ranked Westfield totaled an 18-over 306 to grab a one-shot lead over top-ranked Carmel Friday as the 51st Indiana state girls golf tournament began its two-day run at Prairie View Golf Club.
Coach Katie Bella’s No. 12 Penn Kingsmen were ninth in the field of 18 teams after totaling 336, which was two strokes behind No. 6 Zionsville, three behind No. 7 Floyd Central and six strokes behind No. 9 Franklin Community. Senior Delaney Wade opened with a 79, two strokes better than sophomore Scarlett Biever, who was two strokes ahead of sophomore Clare Tobin.
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“Overall, I was happy – it was consistent, we didn’t have any huge numbers – and I think we’re in a good spot for tomorrow,” said Bella, whose Kingsmen won the Northern Indiana Conference regular-season and post-season tournament and then captured sectional and regional titles. “I think we all feel good about today. We played some smart golf.”
Wade, who is headed to Wofford College next year, and Biever struggled on the front nine of Prairie View shooting five-over 41s which were matched by Tobin. But all three made comebacks on the back nine — Wade shot 38, two better than Biever and four better than Tobin — to lead Penn, which used senior Jill Daniels’ 93 to close out the scoring.
“It just took us awhile to settle in,” Bella said.
After a birdie on her second hole, Wade made six bogeys in her final seven holes on the front and then bogeyed the 11th hole before a birdie at No. 12 calmed her down. She played the final six holes in two-over par.
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Bievers’ front nine included a pair of double bogeys but a birdie at No. 9 set up a back nine that included just two bogeys and one double bogey.
“And Clare hit the ball well,” Bella said. “Her biggest frustration was she had some birdie putts that didn’t drop.”
No. 13 Northridge, led by sophomore Alex Reschly’s 86 and senior Karisa Dyer’s 87, opened their first state tournament appearance ever with a 353 total, which left coach Ken Brewster’s Raiders in 12thplace.
“The course was pretty tough today,” said Brewster who noted that Prairie View played longer than its listed 5,782 yards because of rain the past week. “When your team is not used to hitting long irons into greens, it makes it a little tougher.”
The Raiders teed off the back nine, and Reschly (Brewster’s No. 2 player) went out in six-over 42 with a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish. She then tripled the first hole and bogeyed Nos. 1 and 2 before settling down for her 86 which edged out No. 1 Dyer, who overcame a pair of triple bogeys and three doubles with a pair of birdies in her round of 87.
“Karisa struggled with her approach shots all day but she putted well,” Brewster said. “And what can you say about Alex — she will just battle and she will give you what she has that day.”
Brewster also was happy with the 90s he received from junior No. 3 Lizzy Irving and sophomore No. 5 Macey Riegsecker.
The only Tribune-area individual competing, South Bend Saint Joseph sophomore Marley Dunham, opened with a 12-over-par 84. Dunham, who was the medalist in the NIC Postseason Tournament at Pretty Lake, played the back nine first and played six holes starting at No. 12 in seven-over before losing with a six-over 41.
“I was proud with Marley’s composure on the golf course in her first state appearance,” Saint Joseph coach Theresa Fry said. “She struggled with her putter with a couple of three-putts, but she worked on that afterward. She knows what she needs to fix and tweek. I see her playing better tomorrow.”
The final round is scheduled for Saturday at the 5,782-yard Prairie View Golf Club, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design.
51st IHSAA GIRLS STATE GOLF TOURNAMENT
CARMEL – Results after the first round at the par-72, 5,782-yard Prairie View Golf Club:
Team scores: 1. Westfield 306; 2. Carmel 307; 3. Homestead 313; 4. Noblesville 315; 5. Center Grove 325; 6. Franklin Community 330; 7. Floyd Central 333; 8. Zionsville 334; 9. Penn 336; 10. Hamilton Southeastern 339; 11. Carroll (Fort Wayne) 343; 12. Northridge 353; 13. Kankakee Valley 366; T14. Bedford North Lawrence and Jasper 375; 16. Terre Haute South 381; 17. New Palestine 383; 18. Chesterton 393.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Samantha Brown (Westfield) 68; T2. Karolyn Teglia (Culver Academy), Ava South (Batesville), Michaela Headlee (Carmel) and Addi Kooi (Westfield) 73; T6. Olivia Bailey (Rochester), Ashley Kirkland (Castle) and Josie Kelley (Noblesville) 74; 9. Claire Swathwood (Carmel) 75; T10. Abbey Peterson (Warsaw), Eliza Saal (Homestead), Lexi Stuart (Center Grove), Paige Giovenco (Floyd Central) and Taylor Larkins (Carroll-Fort Wayne) 76.
Area team scoring (players place in field in parentheses)
9. PENN (336): T20. Delaney Wade 79; T33. Scarlett Biever 81; T39. Clare Tobin 83; T76. Jill Daniels 93; T105. Lilly Norris 107.
12. NORTHRIDGE (353): T56. Karisa Dyer 87; T51. Alex Reschly 86; T66. Lizzy Irving 90; 104. Addy Irving 105; T66. Macey Riegsecker 90.
Area individual scoring (place in field in parentheses)
T43. Marley Dunham (South Bend Saint Joseph) 84.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana girls golf state finals at Prairie View Golf Club
