NorthWood junior MacKenzie Weaver putts during a golf tournament earlier this season. Weaver tees off at the IHSAA State Girls Golf Finals in Carmel Friday. (File photo by James Costello)

NAPPANEE — The last time NorthWood junior MacKenzie Weaver played in a state final, it was 2015, and she was playing alongside the rest of the Lady Panthers lineup.

At the time, the then-NorthWood freshman was just happy to be there, but this time she’d like to prove she belongs among the best in the state.

Weaver tees off in the first round of the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals Friday at 10:36 a.m. from the 10th tee at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. Finals are scheduled to resume Saturday morning at 8:30 at Prairie View.

“The last time I went to state I was just a freshman. I was happy to be there with my team, and I wasn’t too concerned with how things played out,” recalled Weaver. “I have learned so much since then. This time I’d like to put up a good score. The only way to do that is to just take it one shot at a time.”

Weaver advanced out of last weekend’s East Noble Regional with a 78 at Noble Hawk, leaving her tied with Angola’s Gabby Kelly for the fourth and fifth state berths reserved for individuals from non-advancing teams. She is just the third golfer in program history to take the solo route to state, following in the footsteps of 1988 state champion Gina Yoder and 2009 qualifier Amy Thompson.

“MacKenzie’s talent combined with her work ethic has allowed her to be in this position,” stated NorthWood head coach Adam Yoder. “She’s also learned a tremendous amount about tournament golf and how it’s different from just playing with your friends over the past two years. I’m excited for her and proud that our program is represented in the state finals by such a great young lady.”

Weaver may be playing among unfamiliar company, but neither she nor Yoder expect that to make that much difference. She doesn’t really see her teammates during tournaments anyway. And while she may be playing alone at Prairie View, she’ll also be representing NorthWood golf.

Besides, she said, her Panthers teammates are coming down to Carmel to cheer her on anyway.

“I don’t think it will be too different from the tournaments so far. I’m still playing for myself, and I’m still playing for my team,” she said. “Most of my team is coming down to support me, so I won’t be alone. The biggest difference is that I will be an individual playing. When you have a team, you can rely on each other to make up shots if one of you is having a bad day. All of you represent your school. I’ll be playing for NorthWood alone, but it’s still the same mindset. I just always try to put up the best score I can.”

“It will probably be most different in the warm-up and post-round, but out on the course during the round, I don’t really see any differences,” echoed Yoder.

Also teeing off at Prairie View Friday will be Weaver’s Northern Lakes Conference rival Braedyn O’Dell — who carded 73 at Noble Hawk — as well as Culver Girls Academy, which advanced with a 326 at Battleground for runner-up honors at the Lafayette Jefferson Regional on Saturday to make its first state finals appearance in 16 years. Lucy Pugh, Masaka Hatano, Jiayi Wang, Amanda Kurteff and Reese Wilson are slated to get started at 9:42 a.m.

Fourth-ranked Evansville North enters as the three-time defending champion, and another win Saturday would make the Huskies just the fifth school with four or more titles in the history of the tournament. Top-ranked Zionsville opens state finals play after setting a sectional record with a 284 score at the Brownsburg Sectional at West Chase and firing a 303 to win the Roncalli Regional at The Legends.