History has shown that once the Indiana high school girls golf season begins, it never takes too long for the top teams to put good performances together right out of the gate.
Carmel and Westfield did that during the season’s first two days. On Monday’s opening day, the No. 2-ranked Shamrocks put on a show at Shadowood for the Bloomington South Invitational, winning that tournament with a score of 295. The No. 3-ranked Greyhounds placed second with a 302.
On Tuesday, the order was reversed, with Carmel coming out on top at the Hamilton Southeastern Invitational, which took place at Stony Creek Golf Club. The ‘Hounds carded a team score of 282, while Westfield scored 285.
So fierce was the competition that four players finished with a two under par 68 at Stony Creek: Carmel’s Claire Swathwood and Michaela Headlee, Westfield’s Sam Brown and Lapel’s Macy Beeson. Those players contested a one-hole playoff for medalist honors off the par-3 ninth hole. All four players birdied the hole; Swathwood was the winner based on closest distance to the hole.
The Greyhounds had five players finish in the top 10. Ava Nguyen scored a 72, while Ava Hedrick carded a 74. Kamryn Williams, playing on Carmel’s second (Gold) team, scored a 73. The Gold team finished fifth with a solid score of 330.
“It was a great match, for sure,” said Greyhounds coach Kelly Kluesner. “The girls just stuck to their game plan. Some of the best ball-striking that I’ve seen out of them all summer. It’s great to see them just focus and get the job done.”
The Shamrocks totaled four players in the top 10. Allie Hildebrand carded an even par 70, Sophie McGinnis scored 73 and Brette Hanavan added a 74. Westfield’s second team, the White squad, placed fourth with a 323.
“Our kids are coming off really good summers,” said Westfield coach Trevor Neu. “They’ve kept it going. We’ve had a lot of birdies in the last two days, which is nice, and the kids are just having a good time, so it’s fun to watch.”
Southeastern had three teams play at its own tournament, with the Royals’ Blue team taking third with a 318. Marissa Spreitzer led No. 6-ranked HSE with a 76.
Fishers also had two squads at Stony Creek, with its Red team scoring a 343. Lilly McVay was the Tigers’ low woman with a 79. Hamilton Heights scored a 397 as a team, with Anna Rickey carding 90.
NICE STRETCH FOR ‘ROCKS
Neu wasn’t kidding about all the birdies for Westfield at the start of the season. In fact, Brown made seven of them during the Shamrocks’ Monday run to the Bloomington South title at Shadowood. She was the individual medalist with a 67.
McGinnis had back-to-back eagles on her back nine, eventually finishing with a 75. Hanavan scored a 75 as well.
“Each player had a nice stretch of holes today that really helped our team,” said Neu. “I’m really proud of the girls today and it was a great start to our season.”
Headlee and Swathwood led Carmel with 73s, followed by Hedrick with a 75.
AT SHADOWOOD
Team scores: Westfield 295, Carmel 302, Castle 306, Evansville North 331, Floyd Central 342, Franklin Community 350, Columbus North 355, Columbus East 362, Jasper 378, Vincennes Rivet 388, Bedford North Lawrence 392, Gibson Southern 396, Bloomington South 398, Terre Haute North 410, Madison 424, South Knox 428, Evansville Memorial 432, Seymour 447, Bloomington North 454, Evansville Central 529.
Medalist: Sam Brown (Westfield) 67.
Other Westfield scores: Sophie McGinnis 75, Brette Hanavan 75, Allie Hildebrand 79, Allie McKeown 87.
Carmel scores: Michaela Headlee 73, Claire Swathwood 73, Ava Hedrick 75, Ava Nguyen 81, Sophie Mock 83.
AT STONY CREEK
Team scores: Carmel Blue 282, Westfield Green 285, Hamilton Southeastern Blue 318, Westfield White 323, Carmel Gold 330, Fishers Red 343, Hamilton Southeastern Gray 348, Hamilton Southeastern White 351, Lapel 359, Hamilton Heights 397, Fishers Gray 419, Roncalli 443, Mooresville inc.
Medalist: Claire Swathwood (Carmel Blue) 35-33=68, won in playoff.
Other Carmel Blue scores: Michaela Headlee 36-32=68, Ava Nguyen 37-35=72, Ava Hedrick 39-35=74, Sophie Mock 37-39=76.
Westfield Green scores: Sam Brown 34-34=68, Allie Hildebrand 34-36=70, Sophie McGinnis 38-35=73, Brette Hananvan 38-36=74, Addi Kooi 39-41=80.
Southeastern Blue scores: Marissa Spreitzer 38-38=76, Lauren Stewart 42-36=78, Cora Zink 40-39=79, Annabelle Willard 42-43=85, Emily Vandall 46-41=87.
Westfield White scores: Allie Mc- Keown 40-36=76, Claire Thompson 39-38=77, Mallory Mortl 40-40=80, Sophie Thompson 45-45=90, Sam Lemieux 43-49=92.
Carmel Gold scores: Kamryn Williams 40-33=73, Sophie Cassidy 43=38=81, Maya Berglund 41-43=84, Caroline Enzor 43-49=92, Gabby Saber 50-45=95.
Fishers Red scores: Lilly McVay 42-37=79, Sarah Majeski 41-43=84, Kristi Lilek 42-47=89, Olivia Holding 45-46=91, Megan Lapp 51-51=102.
Southeastern Gray scores: Ella Bui 42-37=79, Reese Hissong 44-43=87, Karolina Franssen 46-45=91, Abby Strawmyer 46-45=91, Laci Hart 51-48=99.
Southeastern White scores: Makenna Watson 42-43=85, Natalia Nieset 40-45=85, Lily Casey 42-45=87, Sanjana Malineni 45-43=88, Brooke Willard 48-45=93, Alaina Sumner 45-51=96.
Heights scores: Anna Rickey 47-43=90, Ashlyn Fletcher 53-48=101, Kaylee Rhoton 49-53=102, Lola Wilson 55-50=105, Carley Koors 65-52=117.
Fishers Gray scores: Kate Jansen 51-46=97, Marissa Moore 51-50=101, Hayleigh Hemminger 55-53=108, Ava Wellbaum 56-57=113, Lola Kivett 57-58=115.
Guerin Catholic started its season with back-to-back tournament wins.
On Monday, the Golden Eagles won the Cathedral Irish Invitational at Maple Creek with a 360. Christina Pfefferkorn led the way for GC with a 77. Other scores were Izzy Pinion 89, Jenny Zerla 96, Audrey Kunce 98 and Grace Cates 113.
Guerin Catholic followed that up on Tuesday by placing first in the Lafayette Jefferson Booster Invitational, scoring a 344. Pfefferkorn was again the medalist with a 73, followed by Kunce 85, Pinion 87, Zerla 99 and Sarah Rigg 104.
GIRLS GOLF PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
1. Evansville North, 2. Westfield, 3. Carmel, 4. Homestead, 5. Center Grove, T6. Hamilton Southeastern; Columbus North, 8. Noblesville, 9. Culver Academies, 10. Castle, 11. Franklin Community, 12. Penn, 13. Zionsville, 14. NorthWood, 15. Western, 16. Brownsburg, 17. Floyd Central, T18. Crown Point, Floyd Central, Batesville.
Honorable Mention: Lapel, Concord, Greenfield-Central, Lebanon, Fort Wayne Carroll.