Warsaw Golf: Rain Shortens Three-Way At Stonehenge
WARSAW — Given the difficulty of scheduling 18-hole matches during the school year, Warsaw girls golf coach Tad Nieter was hoping to squeeze a full round in at Thursday’s home meet with LaPorte and Chesterton. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
The rapid onset of thunderstorms at Stonehenge Golf Club halted play midway through Thursday’s three-way tournament, but the Lady Tigers were at least able to get nine holes in the books. The other good news is that they shot pretty well too, splitting the team meet with a 190, eight strokes back of LaPorte’s 182 but a full 26 better than Chesterton’s 216.
“We wanted to get 18 in early to kind of prep before school starts. It’s hard to get 18-hole tournaments in during the school year, and we always try to push as many 18-hole tournaments as possible. But it’s alright that we only got nine in; it was kind of hot out there anyway,” said Nieter.
“Chesterton and LaPorte, I’m grateful that they come out here. They’ve always had great squads, so it’s good that we got one of them and split the match. Stonehenge is tough. The front nine, to shoot 190, for us that’s a solid score. If we could get that down to the mid 180s by the end of the year, I think we’d have nothing but happiness from that.”
Leading the Tigers a second straight meet in the second and third spots in the lineup were juniors Izzy Ray and Miriam Hagg.
Ray shot a career-low 45 in the number two grouping, carding pars on two of the three Par 3s on the front side at Stonehenge — Nos. 3 and 7.
“Izzy, I think this is her career low so she did a fantastic job. She’s just got to keep building that confidence in her, and she’s going to be great,” said Nieter.
Hagg’s round of 46 should be a confidence booster for the Warsaw number three, as well. The junior parred 5 and 8 on her way to the Tigers’ second-best score of the day in just her second round since bumping up from the Warsaw JV last season.
“Miriam, I’m so proud of her. She’s put in so much work the last three years she’s been with us always out there on her own practicing, even staying after practice. So this was a great round for her to build her confidence,” Nieter said. “She shot 46 in qualifying, but to actually do it in a match is huge.”
Izzy’s sister Madelyn carded 49 out of the number one grouping, meanwhile. Like her sister, Madelyn also parred Nos. 3 and 7 at Stonehenge.
Returning letterwinner Delaney Wihebrink carded 50 to round out Warsaw’s score, while sophomore Grayson Kilburn finished a stroke back with a 51 in the fourth grouping.
Chesterton’s Elise Stiesal earned low medalist honors with a stellar 1-over-par 36 Thursday. LaPorte was paced by Bethany Schuster’s 43.
The Lady Tigers open dual meet play at 1-1. That result comes after a fifth-place finish at the Plymouth Invitational Wednesday. The team will be back in action Saturday at the East Noble Invitational at Noble Hawk Golf Links.
“We’re making progress every day,” Nieter said. “The practice hours, we’re getting more girls committed to it. Each day our focus has been how do we get better. Even that one percent growth is what we’re looking for each day.”