Westfield’s Cailyn Henderson has made her way to the championship match of the Indiana Women’s Golf Association Match Play Championship, which is taking place this week at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville.
Henderson, who just finished a sensational junior season at the University of Indianapolis, is seeded third at the event. She began her run to the final by beating No. 14 Ava Ray of Franklin 8 and 7, then defeated No. 11 Cybil Stillson of Nappanee 4 and 3 in the quarter-finals, the first of two rounds played on Wednesday.
The semi-finals immediately followed, and Henderson advanced to the championship with a 4 and 3 win over Zionsville’s Claire Edwards. Henderson will play Kayla Benge, the top seed, at 7:54 a.m. this morning for the title.
Benge advanced to the final by beating another Westfield star. Jocelyn Bruch, now at Purdue University, was seeded fourth, and she reached the semis with victories over No. 13 Braedyn O’Dell of Goshen 3 and 2 in the first round, and No. 5 Lexi Ray of Franklin 6 and 5 in the quarters. Benge defeated Bruch 3 and 2 in the semis.
Two other Hamilton County golfers were among the 16 competing in match play. No. 12 Christina Pfefferkorn of Carmel, soon to be a senior at Guerin Catholic, fell to Lexi Ray in 19 holes in a first-round match. No. 15 Sydney Longstreth, a recent Camel graduate and Ohio University commit, dropped a first-round match to No. 2 seed Megan Yoder of Fort Wayne 4 and 3.
Players advanced to the match play round after their performances in an 18-hole stroke play qualifier. Henderson finished third with a 73, Bruch tied for fourth with a 75, Pfefferkorn took 11th with a 78 and Longstreth tied for 15th with a score of 80.
Other players that competed in the qualifier were Carmel’s Angelica Pfefferkorn (81), Fishers’ Kennedy Brooker (81), Westfield’s Margaret Wentz (84), Carmel’s Ava Nguyen (87) and Carmel’s Maya Berglund (100).
BOYS STATE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
The best boys golfers in the state have been at Purdue University’s Ackerman-Allen Course this week, competing in the Indiana Golf Association’s Boys State Junior Championship.
Players competed in two rounds of stroke play, with the top 64 advancing to the match play round. Sixteen Hamilton County golfers made it to match play, with four of them reaching the Round of 16.
Westfield’s Will Harvey advanced with a 5 and 3 first-round win over Fort Wayne’s Cameron GeRue, then beat another Fort Wayne golfer, Grant Norman, 2 and 1 in the second round.
Alec Cesare, also from Westfield, reached the Round of 16 with victories over Seymour’s Owen Marshall 4 and 2 in first-round play, then defeated another Westfield golfer, Ryan Ford, 2 and 1 for a second-round victory.
Patrick Michael won an all-Carmel first round match, beating Joseph Armfield 3-2 to advance. Michael then beat Noblesville’s Connor McNeely, a senior-to-be at Guerin Catholic, 5 and 3 in the second round.
Fishers’ Cole Starnes, a junior-to-be at Hamilton Southeastern, began his road to the Round of 16 with a first-round win over Tipton’s Maverick Conaway, 4 and 3. Starnes then defeated Indianapolis’ Ian Harris in the second round, 5 and 3.
In today’s Round of 16 pairings, Harvey takes on Carter Smith of Sellersburg, with the winner to face either McCordsville’s Sam McWilliams or Zionsville’s Andrew Wall in the quarter-finals. Cesare will play Bloomfield’s Jason Bannister, with that winner taking on either Bloomfield’s Happy Gilmore or Crown Point’s Ray Filter in the quarters. Michael takes on this year’s IHSAA individual champion, Peru’s Kash Bellar, in his Round of 16 match, with the winner playing either Starnes or Valparaiso’s Aidan Guiterrez.
Complete stroke play results for Hamilton County golfers follow, along with match play results for the first two rounds.
STROKE PLAY RESULTS
1. Jacob Modleski, Noblesville 72-66=138, T3. Connor McNeely, Noblesville 74-68=142, T10. Alec Cesare, Westfield 75-71=146; Andrew White, Westfield 75-71=146, T17. Ryan Ford, Westfield 72-76=148, T27. Joseph Armfield, Carmel 78-72=150, T35. Sam Booth, Carmel 77-75=152; Matthew Shull, Westfield 77-75=152; Owen Sander, Carmel 78-74=152; Patrick Michael, Carmel 73-79=152, T43. Cole Starnes, Fishers 78-75=153, T46. Will Harvey, Westfield 77-77=154; Jack Sciaudone, Westfield 75-79=154, T53. Tyler Marcinko, Fishers 77-78=155, T59. Camden Kooi, Westfield 80-76=156, T64. Jake Cesare, Westfield 78-79=157, T66. Kent Fujita, Carmel 78-80=158, T70. Riley Reese, Carmel 78-81=159; Benjamin Burgan, Westfield 85-74=159; T77. Leo Wessel, Indianapolis (Guerin Catholic) 85-76=161, T87. Christian Hein, Carmel 79-85=164, T91. Will Perkins, Noblesville 83-82=165, T93. Connor McMillan, Fishers 81-85=166, T97. Nathan Benson, Fishers 83-85=168, 102. Joe Sawyer, Westfield 83-90=173.
MATCH PLAY RESULTS
Round 1: Jacob Modleski def. Jake Cesare, 5 and 4; Will Harvey def. Cameron GeRue (Fort Wayne), 5 and 3; Sam Booth def. D Tabor (New Castle), 4 and 2; Andrew Wall (Zionsville) def. Owen Sander, 1 up; Happy Gilmore (Bloomfield) def. Matthew Shull, 5 and 3; Ray Filter (Crown Point) def. Jack Sciaudone, 4 and 2; Alec Cesare def. Owen Marshall (Seymour), 4 and 2; Ryan Ford def. Jack Kristel (Greenwood), 5 and 4; Adam Melliere (Zionsville) def. Camden Kooi, 5 and 4; Brandon Hansen (Kokomo) def. Tyler Marcinko, 2 and 1; Sam Hord (Greenwood) def. Andrew White, 20 holes; Connor McNeely def. Gavin Hare (Tipton), 2 and 1; Patrick Michael def. Joseph Armfield, 3 and 2; Cole Starnes def. Maverick Conaway (Tipton), 4 and 3.
Round 2: Carter Smith (Sellersburg) def. Jacob Modleski, 1 up; Will Harvey def. Grant Norman (Fort Wayne), 2 and 1; Sam McWilliams (McCordsville) def. Sam Booth, 3 and 2; Alec Cesare def. Ryan Ford, 2 and 1; Patrick Michael def. Connor McNeely, 5 and 3; Cole Starnes def. Ian Harris (Indianapolis), 5 and 3.