DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
A new course and a new day did little to change the final outcome at the local golf sectional.
Homestead wins.
Norwell and Bellmont advance.
A beautiful day of golf at Chestnut Hills Golf Course on the west side of Fort Wayne gave both the Knights and the Braves a chance to prove their skills and they did just that, gaining another week on their season along with the state-ranked Homestead Spartans.
“I’m just very proud of the how the girls handled a difficult course,” said head coach Mike Macke after his head coaching career was extended by another week. “We were up seven over Norwell at the turn.”
The Knights finished seven strokes ahead of Bellmont when it was all said and done, shooting a 397 to the 404 of Bellmont.
South Adams’ Julia Arnold missed out on a regional appearance after losing a playoff to her Canterbury opponent for the last individual spot.
Homestead, one of the very best programs in all of Indiana, shot an incredible 291, winning the event by over 100 strokes.
In quite an incredible feat, the Spartans took all five of the top five spots. Homestead’s No. 2, Cassidy Ayers, finished with a -5 round of 67.
The Spartans’ No. 5, Domenica Casini, was fifth overall with an 83.
Bluffton’s Emma Schwartz was the highest-finishing non-Homestead player, shooting 84. She struggled midway through the Front Nine and then went on a tear, playing the first six holes on the Back Nine at even par.
Schwartz was actually the leader in the clubhouse as she finished her round before any of the Homestead girls and despite the Spartan’s dominance, she actually finished with a ten-stroke gap to her next-closest competitor.
Norwell and Bellmont took the next four stop, with the pair of Ellie Gatton (94) and Anna Dodane (96) beating out the Braves’ Krosbi Butler and Abigail Blythe, who both shot 98.
“Krosbi and Abigail both played great,” said Macke. “Abigail had two birdies on the front and Krosbi birdied 10. It’s her third birdie on a hole No. 10 this year. She sat out Thursday due to a sore shoulder.”
The long-time coach pointed out how balanced his team was, noting that Meghan Pettibone and Ella Hockemeyer had been the top scorers earlier in the week, but the Braves advanced to regional without either of them leading the team.
Pettibone battled a wrist injury and a poor opening hole to finish with a 104.
The regional will be played Friday at Noble Hawk.
Team Scores
Homestead 291
Norwell 397
Bellmont 404
Bluffton 422
New Haven 437
Adams Central 461
FW South Side 477
Heritage 477
Bishop Luers 496
Wayne 514
Heritage Scores
Natalie Otte 112, Alexis Bremer 115, Olivia Minnich 128, Liz Buuck 123, Aubree Rebeck 127
Adams Central Scores
Kate Moser 111, Emilee Hirschy 114, Lily Hurst 112, Sophie Johnson 124, Lily Johnson 133
South Adams Scores
Julia Arnold 100, Addy Hinton 110, Ady Toland 128, Megan Yoder 109, Hailey Wendel 102
Bluffton Scores
Emma Schwartz 84, Eve Corkwell 106, Tressa Renner 119, Piper Morgan 113, Aleeah Grover 120
Norwell Scores
Ellie Gatton 94, Anna Dodane 96, Nevada Lenwell 103, Savanna Simerman 104, Emmy Heaston 110
Bellmont Scores
Meghan Pettibone 104, Ella Hockemeyer 104, Abigail Blythe 98, Krosbi Butler 98, Addi Johnson 123