Warsaw’s Izzy Ray sinks her putt during a three-way meet at Stonehenge Golf Club Thursday. Ray’s career-low 89 helped boost her team to the top of the standings at the meet. (Photos by James Costello)

WARSAW — The start of the high school girls golf season is a hectic one. With only three days from the first practice on July 27 to the official first day of matches, golfers have to learn on the fly, and the season always opens at a frenzied pace.

Thursday’s three-way match at Stonehenge Golf Club represented Triton’s second 18-hole match in as many days, and host Warsaw’s second in three days. As you’d expect, a little fatigue seemed evident for both squads on the back nine. The Lady Tigers added 16 strokes on the back side, but the team’s 383 was more than good enough to top the standings at the three-way meet. The Trojans added a full 21 strokes after the turn and finished with a 491 behind Chesterton’s 427 score. Those differences were pretty much to be expected, however, and neither coach was very surprised by what he saw Thursday.

“We’ve been working a lot on course management and where we need to go, and the girls are starting to figure that out and get on a fast pace with that,” said Warsaw coach Tad Nieter. “Still some bumps. It’s early in the season, but we’re getting a lot better at that.”

“The girls season is ridiculous when you have basically three days and then you start matches,” said Triton coach Jack Carpenter. “Obviously your better players are playing all summer, the kids who are really into golf. The girls from Triton High School aren’t into golf where they play in the summertime, so to throw them in the fire right away is tough. They kind of learn by playing, so that’s just what we deal with.”

Warsaw has the benefit of four returners to its varsity lineup in 2018 in sisters Izzy and Madelyn Ray, fellow senior Miriam Hagg and junior Grayson Kilburn. Izzy’s career-low 89 — highlighted by a birdie on the par 3 17th and three even-par scores on two more par 3s on 3 and 7 as well as the par 5 ninth — earned her low-medalist honors at the meet.

“It was good for her. She did a great job putting,” said Nieter of his number two. “She vastly improved from Tuesday. So if she gets the ball rolling on her putts, she’s going to shoot low. I expect her to shoot mid-80s by end of season.”

Grayson Kilburn hits an iron off the fairway on the back nine at Stonehenge Thursday.

Kilburn gave Warsaw another strong score playing in the No. 1 grouping with a 91, meanwhile. After carding a field-best 43 on the front side, Kilburn ran into trouble early on the back nine at Stonehenge, going 8 over par over the first four holes, but she still found a way to grind out the second best score of the day.

“She got hot off the front nine and then sort of slowed down there on 10, 11 and 12. She hit a little rough patch, but I was really proud of her today because she showed a lot of grit finishing up,” Nieter said.

Hagg shot 102 playing in the fourth grouping for the Tigers, while fellow upperclassman Julia Hildebrand gave the team its fourth score playing in the fifth flight with a 102 that included a beautiful chip shot on 18. Madelyn had a tough back nine to finish with the hosts’ fifth score at 105 playing in the third grouping, meanwhile.

“I keep telling the girls to be thinking positive, especially after these last two rounds because we know exactly what we need to work on,” said Nieter. “It’s not something that’s hidden at all, that we have to dig for. We know exactly what we have to do so I’m excited for the coming weeks.”

While the Tigers have a depth of returning experience in 2018, the Trojans have just two returners in Alysha May and Delaney Groves. May gave Triton its best score of the day with a 113. Groves carded 125 for the team’s third score behind Maddie Ritchison’s 124 after a tough back nine. Samantha Edington turned in a 129 to complete her team’s score as the Trojans entered just four golfers at Thursday’s meet.

Alysha May hits a shot off the fairway for Triton at Stonehenge.

“Alysha went 53 on the front, which is good for her. If the girls can shoot 55 or under, I’d be tickled pink. Delaney shoots 58, but I know she had at least one circle-10 on the front nine, so she’s close. Then the back nine, a different story,” explained Carpenter.

“I guess I expected to be a little bit better. I know the back nine is a little bit tougher, whether it’s girls or boys playing. It’s par 36 compared to par 35 so you expect the scores to be a little bit higher, but much too high, and a lot of that is just playing.”

The Trojans struggled in general on the back side, and they added more to their score after the turn than either of the other two teams in the field. Part of it no doubt had to do with some fatigue following Wednesday’s Caston Invite, where Triton finished third with a 472. But part of it simply had to do with experience playing on a challenging back nine at Stonehenge.

““The front nine wasn’t so bad for us. Two thirty-five sounds really high, but we shot 234 yesterday on a course that was much, much easier than today,” Carpenter explained. “Going to the back nine, they struggled. A lot of water back there, which freaks them out to say the least. I give the girls credit — they try hard, they try to make adjustments, they just don’t have golf experience.”

Chesterton was led by Kaitlyn McCoy’s 97. Warsaw entered the only junior varsity team with four JV players Thursday. Delaney Byron shot 103, while Anna Morgan and Marie Frazetta both carded 104, and Sydney Lancaster shot 106.

Warsaw resumes play Saturday at the East Noble Invitational. Triton plays Whitko on the road at Sycamore Monday.