After the first round of the IHSAA girls golf state meet, Westfield’s Jocelyn Bruch is in the driver’s seat.
The junior fired a four-under par 68 to take a five-shot lead at the state meet, which is taking place at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. The meet finishes today with the second round; the participants begin teeing off at 8:30 a.m.
Bruch played about as well as possible in her round, which consisted of 14 pars and four birdies. Her score of 68 puts her in a large tie for the second-lowest 18-hole round at state. The lowest is 66, set by Richmond’s Trisha Weatherby in 2008.
“I played consistent, so I was pretty pleased with my round,” said Bruch. “The course was in really good shape and the weather was really good. It warmed up after my first few holes, so the weather was good today.”
Bruch will start her second round from the first tee at 8:39 a.m.
“I’m going to play the same way tomorrow that I played today,” said Bruch. “I’m just going to play one shot at a time, just focus on the shot that’s in front of me.”
In the team standings, Evansville North and Zionsville are currently tied for first with 308s. Homestead is in third with 318, and two Hamilton County teams are next in line: Carmel is fourth with a 320 and Guerin Catholic fifth with 327.
Sophomore Katie Kuc is leading the way for the Greyhounds. Kuc carded a 73, which puts her in a tie for second place in the individual standings as well. Kuc made three birdies in her round.
“She really played well and steady all day,” said Carmel coach Kelly Kluesner.
Senior Nina Hecht scored 80, followed by junior Elizabeth Hedrick with 82 and freshman Ava Hedrick with 85. Elizabeth Hedrick made two birdies in her round, with Hecht and Ava Hedrick both making one.
“The others played a lot of really, really good holes and we just had a couple big numbers, so we’ll work on correcting that for tomorrow,” said Kluesner.
Junior Angelica Pfefferkorn and senior McKayla Tallman both scored 80s for the Golden Eagles, while freshman Christina Pfefferkorn shot 83. All three made one birdie in their respective round.
Hamilton Southeastern is in 11th place after the first round with a score of 365. Senior Chlesea Morrow led the Royals with a 79; that included one birdie.
University freshman Becky Williams carded an 87 in her first round, including two birdies. Williams will start her second round at 10:18 a.m. today from the 10th tee.
As for the team tee times, Southeastern will start from the 10th tee between 9:33 and 10:09 a.m., and will play with Crown Point and NorthWood. Carmel and Guerin Catholic will play with Columbus North and begin from the first tee between 9:42 and 10:18 a.m.
Team scores: Evansville North 308, Zionsville 308, Homestead 318, Carmel 320, Guerin Catholic 327, Columbus North 340, Culver Academies 346, Lafayette Jefferson 349, Bedford North Lawrence 351, NorthWood 354, Hamilton Southeastern 365, Crown Point 371, Evansville Memorial 372, South Bend St. Joseph 374, Richmond 378.
First round leader: Jocelyn Bruch (Westfield) 68.
Carmel scores: Katie Kuc 73, Nina Hecht 80, Elizabeth Hedrick 82, Ava Hedrick 85, Ella Woods 87.
Guerin Catholic scores: Angelica Pfefferkorn 80, Mckayla Tallman 80, Christina Pfefferkorn 83, Sophie McGinnis 84, Jenna Rust 142.
Southeastern scores: Chelsea Morrow 79, Julia Eaton 87, Maggie Watson 99, Mara Wilson 100, Ashley Marcinko 103.
University score: Becky Williams 87.