A major event on the Indiana Golf Association’s junior tour calendar has been taking place this week at Carmel’s own Plum Creek Golf Club.
The IGA is hosting the Girls State Junior Championship, the third and final round of which will tee off this morning. Carmel’s golfers are representing their hometown well, with four players in the top six.
Angelica Pfefferkorn, a recent Guerin Catholic graduate and soon to be player at Oklahoma State University, is in first-place with a 145, leading by two shots. Pfefferkorn carded an even-par 72 for her first round on Monday, then followed that up with a 73 for the Tuesday second round. Pfefferkorn will be in the final group off the first tee, starting at 9:54 a.m.
Three Carmel girls will be playing in the penultimate group off of No. 1, teeing off at 9:48 a.m. Senior-to-be Katie Kuc is in fourth place with a two-day score of 149. She is followed by fellow incoming senior Sydney Longstreth and incoming freshman Michaela Headlee, who are tied for fifth place with 150s. Longstreth made six birdies during her first two rounds.
Noblesville’s Macy Beeson, a sophomore-to-be, is tied for seventh place with a 153.
Here is a list of scores from the first two rounds.
1. Angelica Pfefferkorn, Carmel, 73-72=145, 4. Katie Kuc, Carmel, 75-74=149, T5. Sydney Longstreth, Carmel, 75-75=150; Michaela Headlee, Carmel, 74-76=150, T7. Macy Beeson, Noblesville, 79-74=153, 11. Samantha Brown, Westfield, 79-75=154, T20. Ava Hedrick, Carmel, 83-75=158, T23. Christina Pfefferkorn, Carmel, 80-79=159, T25. Elizabeth Hedrick, Carmel, 81-79=160, T35. Ashley Marcinko, Fishers, 81-83=164; Sarah Brenneman, Noblesville 84-80=164, T39. Taylor Caldwell, Noblesville, 86-79=155, T52. Claire Swathwood, Carmel, 86-83=169, T55. Caroline Whallon, Noblesville, 84-86=170; Brette Hanavan, Westfield, 90-80=170, T63. Alison Hildebrand, Carmel, 82-90=172; Ava Nguyen, Carmel, 84-88=172, T67. Sophie McGinnis, Westfield, 79-95=174, 72. Ellie Karst, Noblesville, 87-88=175, T74. Payton Schechter, Fishers, 88-89=177; Lillian McVay, Fishers, 88-89=177, T76. Kelsey Haverluck, Westfield, 88-92=180.
Missed cut: Marissa Spreitzer, Fishers, 91, Sophie Mock, Carmel, 91, Cate Jensen, Westfield, 91, Averie Reiter, Carmel, 92, Lauren Stewart, Fishers, 92, Allie McKeown, Westfield, 92, Jordan Adam, Noblesville, 92, Sophia Stutz, Noblesville, 94, Mallory Mortl, Westfield, 95, Bella Deibel, Noblesville, 95, Grace Dubec, Fishers, 99, Mary Kate Tanselle, Carmel, 118.
Total birdies made: Longstreth 6, Brown 6, A. Pfefferkorn 5, Headlee 4, Beeson 3, A. Hedrick 3, Marcinko 3, Caldwell 3, Hanavan 3, Kuc 2, Whallon 2, McVay 2, C. Pfefferkorn 1, Hildebrand 1, McGinnis 1, Karst 1, Mock 1, McKeown 1, Stutz 1.
Last week, two recent graduates from Hamilton County schools were winners at big tournaments.
Clay Stirsman, a Carmel star on his way to Wake Forest in the fall, won the Boys State Junior Championship at Stonehenge Golf Course in Winona Lake. Stirsman was the second seed after stroke play, then cruised through the draw in the 64-man match play event. In the final, he beat Valparaiso’s Aidan Gutierrez 5 & 4.
Stirsman tied for second in the stroke play round with a three-under par 139; he carded a three-under 68 in the second round to follow an even par 71 in the first round. Two Westfield players landed in the top 10: Ryan Ford tied for fourth with an even 141, while Andrew White tied for eighth with 142. Both reached the quarter-finals of match play.
STROKE PLAY
T2. Clay Stirsman, Carmel, 71-68=139, T4. Ryan Ford, Westfield, 67-74=141, T8. Andrew White, Westfield, 74-68=142, T12. Alec Cesare, Westfield, 70-73=143, T27. Sam Booth, Carmel, 71-76=147, T42. Lukas Stitle, Carmel, 74-76=150, T46. Shoji Fujita, Carmel, 71-80=151, T53. Christian Hein, Carmel, 77-75=152, T57. Jack Sciaudone, Westfield, 77-76=153; Hunter Cook, Westfield, 76-77=153, T73. Nels Surtani, Noblesville, 78-77=155, T73. Connor Hendrick, Carmel, 81-74=155, T77. Kent Fujita, Carmel, 76-80=156, T81. Nolan Hall, Westfield, 79-78=157, 86. Colin Nixon, Westfield, 79-79=158, T91. Rocco Browning, Westfield, 79-82=161.
Total birdies made: Stirsman 9, Ford 9, White 9, Hein 6, Booth 5, Cook 5, Cesare 4, Stitle 4, S. Fujita 4, Hendrick 4, Browning 4, Sciaudone 3, Hall 3, K. Fujita 2, Nixon 2, Surtani 1.
MATCH PLAY – ROUND 1
White def. Adam Melliere, Zionsville, 2 & 1; Callen Hoskins, Warsaw def. S. Fujita, 2 & 1; Andrew Shaub, Greenwood def. Stitle, 3 & 2; Stirsman def. Drew Rowen, Fairland, 3 & 2; Ford def. Sciaudone, 2 Up; Booth def. Jadden Ousley, Monticello, 4 & 3; Cesare def. Reece Compton, Floyds Knobs, 3 & 1; Nicholas Hofman, Lafayette def. Cook, 3 & 1; Hein def. Damon Dickey, Franklin, 1 Up.
ROUND 2
White def. Maclean Dudasko, Zionsville, 3 & 2; Stirsman def. Grant Norman, Fort Wayne, 5 & 4; Ford def. Owen Marshall, Seymour, 5 & 4; Booth def. D Tabor, New Castle, 2 & 1; Sam Hord, Greenwood, def. Cesar,e 4 & 3; Kash Bellar, Peru, def. Hein, 1 Up.
ROUND OF 16
White def. Tommy Philpot, Saint John, 7 & 6; Stirsman def. Cameron GeRue, Fort Wayne, 5 & 4; Ford def. Kevin Tillery, Brownsburg, 5 & 4; Booth def. Hord, 19 Holes.
QUARTER-FINALS
Josh Yoder, Granger def. White, 2 & 1; Stirsman def. Ford, 2 Up; Bellar def. Booth, 3 & 2.
SEMI-FINALS
Stirsman def. Kellar, 4 & 3
CHAMPIONSHIP
Stirsman def. Aidan Gutierrez, Valparaiso, 5 & 4
Meanwhile, Westfield graduate Jocelyn Bruch took care of business on what will be one of her new home courses last week.
The Purdue commit won the IWGA Match Play Championship at Ackerman-Allen Course. After placing winning the stroke play competition in a playoff, Bruch won four matches to claim the championship. She defeated Evansville’s Hadley Watts 4 & 2 in the first round, then got past three West Lafayette golfers in the next three rounds: Ally Ross 3 & 2 in the quarter-finals, Micaela Farah 1 Up in the semi-finals and Daniela Ballesteros 6 & 4 in the championship.
Fishers’ Sydney Hruskoci also qualified for match play; she was beaten by Ballesteros 5 & 4 in the first round.
STROKE PLAY SCORES
1. Jocelyn Bruch, Carmel, 69, T14. Sydney Hruskoci, Fishers, 77, T17. Cailyn Henderson, Westfield, 79, T20. Adrienne Montalone, Westfield, 80; Margaret Wentz, Westfield, 80, T31. Angelica Pfefferkorn, Carmel, 82; Sydney Longstreth, Carmel, 82; Caroline Whallon, Noblesville 82, T35. Erin Evans, Carmel, 83, T41. Sarah Brenneman, Noblesville, 86.
Birdies made: Bruch 4, Evans 2, Hruskoci 1, Henderson 1, Montalone 1, Longstreth 1.
Look for more golf results in Thursday’s Reporter.
Noblesville’s Ellie Karst (left) finishes her tee shot on the 18th hole. Also pictured are Fishers’ Lillian McVay (center) and Payton Schechter, a Hamilton Southeastern graduate. (Richie Hall)
Westfield’s Sophie McGinnis is one of several Hamilton County players competing in the IGA’s Girls State Junior Championship. (Richie Hall)