Lady Warriors Notch Win Number One
COLUMBIA CITY – Outlined against a blue-gray August sky, the Wawasee girls golf team picked up the win in its first match of the season on Tuesday afternoon.
It was not the most desirable of conditions as the Lady Warriors struggled on the rain soaked fairways and greens of Eagle Glen Golf Course. Despite the weather, Wawasee managed to do enough to escape its host, Columbia City, 196-199.
“This is a tough course to have a first outing at,” said Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone. “We had some good holes and we had some bad holes. It’s an unforgiving course and we struggled with the greens today, but we still did alright.”
“Alright” was an all too fitting word to use for Wawasee’s first performance of the year as every player had some forgettable moments out on the course. Thankfully for Coverstone, several players stepped up to get Wawasee over the hump.
Elizabeth Jackson led the field with her score of 42. Jackson struggled at certain points on Tuesday but was able to keep her score low thanks to a birdie on number one and a pair of pars throughout the day. Only one other Warrior, Mikala Mawhorter, was able to shoot in the 40s as the junior signed for a 48.
Wawasee’s top two scores were not quite good enough to beat out City’s as Macenzie Lane and Taylor Daniel shot 43 and 45, respectively. Depth is where the Eagles came up short and where the Warriors cashed in.
At the bottom of the lineup, Courtney McDaniel gave Wawasee a steady score with a 51 while the fourth counted score for the Warriors was Kylee Rostochak’s 55. Kamryn Foy (56) and Aubrey Schmeltz (59) rounded out the varsity scores for the Warriors.
The bottom three scores for the Eagles were all in the 60s, dragging City’s score down just enough to let Wawasee slip away.
“You just can’t win a varsity golf match with three scores in the 60s,” said City head coach Andrew Thompson. “We had a few inexperienced players out there and it showed. The pin placements were tough today and we struggled with that a little bit but mainly we are just trying to get comfortable.
“Wawasee is a talented team, a sectional opponent and one that I really enjoy having on our schedule. We only play two other teams from our sectional (Whitko and Warsaw) so it is nice to get a small feel for one of the tougher teams in that group.”
Wawasee (1-0) will hope to lower its scores a little more on Wednesday as the Warriors will compete at the Huntington Invitational held at LaFontaine Golf Club in Huntington. The Warriors will play again on Thursday against Concord and Whitko at Sycamore Golf Club in North Manchester.
In junior varsity action, Megan Goralczyk shot a 53 and Rebecca Bender turned in a 74 for Wawasee. Erin Trabert led Columbia City with a 62. No official team score was kept for the junior varsity match.