Wawasee’s Mikala Mawhorter gets herself out of a trap on No. 13 at Prairie View Golf Club. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

CARMEL – It was a very windy day on the course for day one of the 2015 IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals at Prairie View Golf Club. The windy conditions played a big role in how things played out for the finalists, including Wawasee’s Mikala Mawhorter and the members of NorthWood’s team.

“The wind definitely played a big factor in how I played,” began Mawhorter, who shot a 97 Friday afternoon. “My practice round yesterday went very well, but we didn’t have nearly as much wind. I sometimes like to play a slight fade and today the wind caught it and took the ball way too far. The conditions were just something I was not used to. Everything was getting knocked down.

Mawhorter started off alright on the day as the senior went bogey, par on the first two holes. After that, however, it went downhill for a few holes. Mawhorter only picked up two more pars on the front nine compared to three double bogies.

By the time Mawhorter reached the back nine there was warmer weather but the wind had only picked up its intensity. That led to at least a double on her first four holes on the back. It seemed like things would not get any better but then Mawhorter turned things around by parring the next four holes.

Wawasee’s lone state representative saved par on No. 14 then carried that momentum over to the greens on both 15 and 16. A solid tee shot put her just off the 17th fairway which led to, arguably, the senior’s best shot of the round. Mawhorter played the wind right and selected the correct club to land her second shot eight feet from the pin. Mawhorter would settle for par after narrowly missing the downhill birdie putt.

“Tomorrow the weather is supposed to worse,” Mawhorter said with little to no joy. “It’s supposed to be colder, wetter and still windy. I topped the ball a lot today so hopefully I can stay down more on the ball tomorrow and swing through. Hopefully today was first-day jitters more than anything.”

Mawhorter will start Saturday’s round on the No. 10 tee along with girls from Western, Leo and Abby Slabaugh of NorthWood.

Slabaugh and the rest of the Panthers seemed to struggle with the windy conditions and difficult course as they shot a team score of 384.

Slabaugh, only a freshman play on her sport’s grandest stage, signed for a 119. The Panthers were paced by Linnzie Richner who had eight pars to finish with an 86. Summer Stillson (91), Madison Richner (97) and Mackenzie Weaver (110) rounded out the scores for NorthWood.

Rochester’s Kinley Lingenfelter finished her day with an 86 highlighted by a birdie on the third hole.

Evansville North (332) holds a 16-shot lead over Center Grove for first place heading into Saturday’s round.