Claire Reiff gets set up for her drive on No. 6 at South Shore during Wednesday’s meet with Wawasee and West Noble. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE — So, it wasn’t really a home match but the Wawasee girls golf team felt more than comfortable as it made the daunting, four-mile trip to South Shore Golf Club for Tuesday’s match with Whitko, hosted by West Noble. It was a patriotic-themed contest as all three teams donned blue, red or white polo shirts. While the color themes were close, the scores were not as Wawasee shot its best round of the young season, a 205, to best Whitko’s 235 and West Noble’s 241.

“We’re getting better,” Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone offered. “The girls are working hard on their short game and it’s starting to show. We’ve been trying to work on it, we’ll just see where we go from here.”

Wawasee, which was led by match-medalist Aubrey Schmeltz (44), will practice the next two days before returning to South Shore,a long with Whitko, to host its annual Wawasee Invitational. The early look at the course certainly didn’t hurt Coverstone’s team.

“This course can be challenging, no doubt about it,” stated Coverstone. “Right now the greens are pretty firm and pretty fast. We’re going to have to focus on playing in short and letting it bounce on this Saturday.”

Schmeltz earned her medalist nod following an up and down round that was highlighted by two pars and a pair of birdies. Madison Beaman had the match’s second-lowest score with a 49, highlighted by a par effort on No. 6. Freshman Jadison Rostochak made a nice impression as she signed for a 52.Valerie Haessig (60) and Kabrea Rostochak (67) rounded out the scores for the Lady Warriors.

Whitko picked up its first win of the season and was paced by Claire Reiff’s 53. Holly Hathaway showed improvement with her 57 while the scores for the ‘Cats were rounded out by Bailey Wright (62), Alexys Rider (63) and Makayla Compton (63).

West Noble was led by Audrey Fulford’s 53. Hannah Gedfrey (54), Natalie Halferly and Amelia Sholl rounded out the scores for the host Chargers.

Wawasee (3-2) and Whitko (1-4) will meet again at South Shore, along with a flurry of other teams, for the Wawasee Invitational this Saturday.