Marie Frazzetta led Warsaw Saturday at the Warsaw Golf Invite, shooting an 83. InkFreeNews file photo by Mike Deak

By Adam Yoder
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – The defending IHSAA state champion Homestead Spartans were the odds-on favorite heading into the Warsaw girls golf invitational on Saturday. They did not disappoint, either, as they fired a blistering 302 on a sun-drenched Stonehenge golf course with all five players shooting 80 or below.

Spartan number two player Simone Senk also won medalist honors with a one under par 70 to make it a clean sweep for Homestead in the title chases.

NorthWood was able to garner second place honors in the twelve team invite with a 339. Cybil Stillson finished as the runner-up individual with a 72, while classmate Bre Goss fired a 77 to finish fifth.

Stillson rebounded from being three over par through five holes on her front nine to play two under par golf over the last 13 holes. Goss fired a one over par 36 on her opening nine and rode that momentum to another top-five finish.

NorthWood head coach Adam Yoder commented, “The best thing about playing this event here at Stonehenge is that it provides us a tournament round on the sectional course. We are inexperienced in some spots this year, so this will be very beneficial in four weeks when we play the sectional here.

“We’ve seen a lot of improvement recently, too,” continued Yoder. “Stonehenge is a really tough track and playing hard and fast, and with our lack of experience on it with our three, four, and five players, I was very concerned heading into today.”

Looking at the big picture, ‘Wood’s Saturday score of 339 was better than the sectional scores of three of the four state qualifying teams for the program at Stonehenge: 2013 (351), 2015 (344), and 2018 (341). Last year’s deep squad set the sectional record with a 316.

Abbie Richner and Riley Kitson shot matching 95’s (and matching nine-hole scores at 48-47) to round out the Panther top four, while Bella Sechrist added a 110 from the five spot.

The host Tigers continued to show improvement in the first month of the season and finished sixth in the 12-team field with an overall team score of 363. Marie Frazzetta’s 83 led the way for head coach David James.

The lefty, Frazzetta, is undoubtedly the most talented player for the Tigers. Of his ace, James said, “Marie has really stepped up as one of the leaders on the golf team this season and that leadership also translates onto the course. She had some really good shots that led to several pars throughout the day. She has improved from this time last year by shaving several strokes off of her average.”

The first-year skipper is seeing a lot more consistency from his team, recently.

“We are making smarter choices in several aspects of the game whether it has been club choice, decisions on the course, or planning and executing approaches to the greens,” James said. “We played with three really good and really tough teams, and our girls rose to the challenge and kept pace with these teams throughout the round.”

Warsaw’s number four player, Olivia Robinson-Ga,y displayed that improved consistency in her play on the way to a 90 on the day. Her round included five pars and a birdie on the par-four 10th hole.

The freshman is showing a lot of improvement early in the season.

“As a freshmen, Olivia has the potential to be an outstanding and essential golfer for us in the coming seasons,” noted James. “Starting on varsity as a freshmen is impressive, let alone shaving off several strokes consistently with each match, and today was no exception.”

Sydney Lancaster shot a 93, Delaney Byron a 95, and Brooklyn Fitzgerald a 111 to round out the scoring for Warsaw.

In four weeks, the host Tigers, NorthWood, Plymouth (9th 382), Bremen (11th, 458) will gather again at Stonehenge for the IHSAA Warsaw Sectional.

Northern Lakes Conference regular season play begins next week. Warsaw will host Northridge and Wawasee at Stonehenge on Tuesday and will travel to Pretty Lake in Plymouth on Thursday.

NorthWood travels to Bent Oak to play a head to head match on Tuesday in a match that will most likely give the winner the inside track to the NLC crown. The Panthers also make their way to Black Squirrel on Thursday to compete against the host Goshen Redhawks and the Northridge Raiders. ‘Wood also competes in the Hall of Fame Invitational next Saturday at the Trophy Club in Lebanon.