Sep. 23—ANDERSON — The area girls high school golf season came to an end at the Lapel Regional on Saturday at The Edge when no area players posted a state-finals qualifying score.
There were no hanging heads, however, instead there was an abundance of smiles from coaches and players alike as all five kids showed their individual improvement with personal-best scores, stark improvements over their last regional visit and, in one instance, an impressive regional debut that will be a portend of things to come.
Lapel freshman Annabelle Marshall, playing on her home course, posted the area’s low score with an 81 (+9) — edging Daleville’s Addy Gick and Frankton’s Emma Sperry by one stroke — for her personal best for 18 holes as a high school player.
Gick and her teammate and senior classmate Ava Capes were making their third regional visit, with Capes finishing at 86 to match her personal best from last week’s sectional.
Shenandoah junior Maddie Shelton, the top individual qualifier from the New Palestine sectional, finished at 101 which was a two-stroke improvement from her first regional trip a year ago.
Hamilton Southeastern was the team champion with a score of 313, one shot better than sectional champion Noblesville at 314. New Palestine was the third team to advance to state with a score of 345.
The three advancing individuals were Allison Seitz of Lawrence Central with a 72, Kayleigh Agugliaro of Yorktown at 73 and Peityn Gillman from Union County at 74.
Lapel coach Dylan Crosley said Marshall is just beginning to scratch the surface of her potential. After some work with her putter, which let her down at times Saturday, the sky is the limit for the latest in a long line of Bulldog golf standouts.
“She played really well today,” he said. “Her season was good. It could have been better, but she needs to focus on putting, but everything else was great. We’ve got a little phenom to watch out for.”
A tough double-bogey on the par-5 third hole sent Marshall to a 6-over 42 on the outward nine holes.
But the long-hitting freshman gathered herself for the back-nine with a 3-over 39 — the lowest area nine-hole score of the day — highlighted by a birdie on the par-4 17th.
“It’s my home course, so I really wanted to play well,” she said. “Putting today wasn’t great, but I hit my drive really well (on 17), so I hit a little three-fourths swing and it checked up, which was good. I just pictured the putt going in, and it did.”
Sperry was also making her high school golf debut, but the volleyball and basketball star waited until her senior year to get started. It was a wait that yielded dividends.
Highlighted by a birdie on the par-4 fourth hole, she went out in 40 and came in at 42, bettering her own week-old personal best of 87 at last week’s Noblesville Sectional by five strokes. She also established a new Frankton regional record by topping the 84 from Chloe Wenger a year ago.
Knowing she was already a surprise regional qualifier, she played to have fun Saturday with no preconceived notions about advancing further.
“I know I didn’t make it (to state), but I’m not mad. I’m so happy with that score,” Sperry said. “I didn’t feel that much pressure today because I’m not supposed to go on. Whatever happened today, it didn’t matter, so there was no pressure.”
The Broncos’ duo — playing for the first time as individuals after advancing the previous two years with the team — each played their best career regional round Saturday.
Although without a birdie on the day, Gick stayed close to par throughout with just two double-bogeys on the front-nine to finish 14 strokes better than her 2022 regional round of 96. On a course she has often struggled with, she achieved her overall goal.
“I just wanted to beat (last year’s) score that was my only goal,” she said. “If I couldn’t get out, that was my top goal.”
Capes, playing one group ahead of her teammate of seven years, played a consistent round as she scored 43 on each set of nine holes. Her back-nine included three pars and a birdie on the par-3 16th after consecutive pars. She also bettered her previous regional score by 13 shots and included a career first.
“I’ve never had a two,” Capes said. “It was not my first birdie, but it was my first two. Seeing that low number on your scorecard is nice.”
The two also hope to remain teammates going forward, play together in college and enjoyed spending their last day of high school golf playing near one another, although in different pairings.
“It’s sad, but I know we’re going to play in college, so it wasn’t super sad,” Gick said. “I hope we go to the same college so we can play together. That would be so much fun. But I know I’m still going to play together as friends.”
“We’ve been playing together since seventh grade, so it’s been five or six years,” Capes said. “So if we play together in college, it could be 10 or more years.”
Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.
