ALBANY — As it did a year ago, New Palestine’s girls golf team is playing the best golf of the season at the right time.
The Dragons won their third straight Hancock County championship on Sept. 3, and Saturday — at Albany Golf Club — they picked up a second straight Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
A year ago, New Palestine followed up its county and conference victories with a sectional championship and later a berth into the state tournament for the first time since 2014.
At the HHC meet, the Dragons had a team score of 338, nine strokes lower than last year’s victorious round, and added an individual title from sophomore Lauren Deering, the only golfer to break 80. She shot a five-over-par 77, four strokes better than Mt. Vernon runner-up Izzy VanHeel.
“It looked to me like we were a little sharper around the green, chipping and putting,” New Palestine head coach Sarah O’Brien said. “I know we had a few three-putts here and there, but I felt we were a little cleaner in that part of our game and that makes a big difference.”
Mt. Vernon was the runner-up for the second straight year. The Marauders shot a 349, 10 strokes lower than last season’s score on the same course, but still not quite enough to catch the Dragons.
“Three girls got all-conference, it’s bittersweet. We played well but didn’t have the fire power [to win it],” Mt. Vernon coach Mike Miner said.
The all-conference team, which included the top eight places, was dominated by the Dragons and the Marauders. They claimed seven of eight spots.
Along with Deering for the Dragons, Katie Kelley placed third with an 84, Lily Kirchner was fourth with an 85 and Matti Tiede-White was eighth with a 92.
Joining VanHeel for the Marauders were Kylie Hyde, tied for fourth with Kirchner with a career-best 85, and Marissa Miner, who was sixth with an 89.
With places ninth through 15 receiving honorable mention recognition, all players on both the Dragons and Marauders were recognized. New Palestine’s Janie Hamilton and Mt. Vernon’s Gigi Avers tied for 12th with 94s. Mt. Vernon’s Natalie Miner was 15th with a 98.
For Deering, it was a matter of getting off to a good start. She had not been playing well recently, but her game was on Saturday.
“I’m really happy for her,” O’Brien said. “She’s been struggling with her game a little bit lately, struggling off the tee and just not hitting it as well. She really tried to work on that this week and she came in with a great frame of mind and that obviously paid off.”
Deering said some early pars and a birdie gave her what she needed for the remainder of the round.
“From the start, I went par, par, par and I birdied one of the holes,” she said. “I thought going off that and being 1-under through No. 4 or No. 5 — I was striking the ball really well from the first hole — I could just feel the energy coming back. I was coming off a few bad rounds, so this was a really good rebound for me and coming back to my golf game.”
Deering shot a 38 [2-over-par] on the front and a 3-over-par 39 on the back. VanHeel had the only other 9-hole score in the 30s, carding a 39 on the back nine.
“I started on what I think is the hardest hole, No. 1, it’s really tight with trees on both sides,” Deering added. “I knew it was going to be a really tough one to start on. When I ended up parring it, I felt ‘This was the hardest hole and I just parred it.’ That made my energy go up a lot.”
Due to illness, VanHeel was not able to defend her individual title at the county tournament, but between that time and Saturday’s conference had played some good golf. That carried over to a runner-up finish. She was third in last year’s HHC tournament.
“I had some good rounds this week, I wished I would have done a little bit better today, but you take what you can get,” VanHeel said. “I think I’ll be in good shape for the sectional hopefully.”
Greenfield-Central finished seventh out of the eight teams with a round of 438. The Cougars were led by Tanessa O’Neal and Kynsey Hasty, both shot 104s.
All three teams are wrapping up regular-season play this week.
The sectional is Monday, Sept. 23 at The Links, New Palestine’s home course.
“It’s exciting,” Deering said. “I feel there’s a lot of energy happening right now in our team knowing we have won two pretty big tournaments. We’re hoping we can make it out of the sectional and win that one too. It definitely means a lot out of all the teams out here [Saturday] to be No. 1.”
“It’s great and they’re excited,” O’Brien added on her team playing well heading toward the postseason. “We’ve got two matches this week and we’ll be gearing up for the sectional. It feels really good. It feels like everybody is clicking on all cylinders. Hopefully we’ll be blessed with good weather and we can make it happen.”
At last year’s sectional, New Palestine and Mt. Vernon finished 1-2 with the Dragons shooting a 357 and the Marauders carding a 376. Kelley, VanHeel and Deering earned the top three individual spots, respectively.
The Marauders may not have the trophies to show for it, but they are playing good golf at the right time, too.
“They are playing better,” coach Miner said of his team. “There are always those ups and downs during the season .. This is the time where we’re starting to play better.”
At the sectional, the top three teams and top three individuals not on the three advancing teams move on to regional competition.
“Recently and especially [Saturday] we played so well,” VanHeel added. “We’re continuing to improve. A lot of girls are pulling through and getting our team some good scores.”
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2024 Hoosier Heritage Conference Girls Golf Tournament
Team scores: New Palestine 338, Mt. Vernon 349, Pendleton Heights 385, Yorktown 396, Delta 402, New Castle 414, Greenfield-Central 438, Shelbyville 441.
All-HHC: Lauren Deering (New Palestine) 77, Izzy VanHeel (Mt. Vernon) 81, Katie Kelley (New Palestine) 84, Lily Kirchner (New Palestine) 85, Kylie Hyde (Mt. Vernon) 85, Marissa Miner (Mt. Vernon) 89, Avery Stinson (Delta) 90, Matti Tiede-White (New Palestine) 92
All-HHC honorable mention: Bella Shetterley (Pendleton Heights) 93, Addison Summerall (Pendleton Heights) 93, Grace Turner (Yorktown) 93, Janie Hamilton (New Palestine) 94, Gigi Avers (Mt. Vernon) 94, Lydia Hines (New Castle) 96, Natalie Miner (Mt. Vernon) 98, Lindsey Matthews (Yorktown) 98.
