GREENFIELD — Things weren’t quite the same as year’s past. Yet, on Tuesday, some elements still remained oddly familiar.
As players from each of the four Hancock County girls golf teams steadily returned to the clubhouse at Hawk’s Tail of Greenfield, no ceremonial stage awaited.
There wasn’t a leaderboard posted for coaches and competitors to browse or a final team champion announcement, let alone a group photo of the 2020 All-Hancock County honorees.
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Instead, the defending champion Greenfield-Central Cougars spread around with their families, while the Mt. Vernon Marauders socially distanced in a circle before breaking for the parking lot and home.
For Greenfield-Central senior Caroline Gibson, however, despite the unorthodox feel during Tuesday’s Hancock County Tournament finale, she stuck to her routine throughout, and the Cougars followed suit.
Arriving two hours before the tournament teed off, Gibson, much like her must-have, pre-match Starbuck’s strawberry refresher, ritualistically headed straight to the driving range and also buried a few putts to warm up before rounding up her teammates.
“Once I hit the driving range, I was in my zone,” Gibson said. “Before we started, I pulled the team together, and I told them, ‘Guys, this is it. We have to defend this. Even if you hit a bad shot, you have to push it away and get back at it.’”
The Cougars, led by Gibson’s 1-over par 37, stuck to the plan perfectly, firing a combined score of 175 to claim their second straight county team title.
Gibson’s tally secured her medalist honors — the first in her career — with runner-up Mt. Vernon’s Alaina Nugent, a junior, second overall at 38.
The Marauders posted a 189 to take second, while New Palestine finished third at 205 and Eastern Hancock was fourth with a 242.
Greenfield-Central’s total matched its score from a year ago, which ended New Palestine’s five-year championship run, and mirrored the team’s lowest score recorded at Hawk’s Tail this season.
“It’s definitely been a weird year, but we were able to come out and put together a good run,” Greenfield-Central head coach Russ Wiley said. “It still doesn’t feel normal yet, but we’re getting there.”
For Gibson, her 37 was right on point. Earlier this season, she shot a 35 and in her career she’s carded a 33 on the Cougars’ home course, but this one was special for the 2019 state-qualifier.
“It’s good because it’s senior year. My goal is to be medalist at every single tournament and every single match I’m in, so to be first in the county, it feels good,” Gibson said. “It’s all still weird. It would be fun to get a group photo.”
The commemorative picture will have to wait for another day, but the Cougars weren’t squandering their opportunity at a repeat regardless.
Last year’s medalist, Tandess O’Neal shot a 40 for the team’s second-best score and was named all-county.
G-C’s Haley Hoagland turned in a 48 to tie with Mt. Vernon’s Emily Rollo and New Palestine’s Megan Diller for fifth and all-county distinctions.
Katie Curry and Sydney Wherry both shot a 50 for the Cougars, which was enough to fend off the Marauders, who had three golfers finish sub-50.
Mt. Vernon’s Meredith Johnson joined Nugent on the all-county team with a 44. Nugent’s performance cemented her third straight top-three placement the past three years.
As a freshman, she was second after losing in a playoff with New Palestine’s Annaliese Fox. Last year, she tied Gibson for third with a 41.
“Freshman year, I tied for first. Last year, I was like, ‘gosh, dang it, I got beat.’ And this year, it was so frustrating because it was one stroke,” Nugent said. “I knew I had a putt out there I could have made and a ton of shots I could have done so much better on, but next year, I’m going to be No. 1, no matter what.”
This year belonged to the Cougars, however, and they’re still not where they want to be.
“We haven’t been playing our best golf all together. It’s kind of been staggered, so to come together for this match and shoot semi-better than we have is a good feeling,” Gibson said. “I feel in the next few weeks, we’re going to start clicking, and by the end of the season before sectional, we’re going to be playing our best ball.”
The key was consistency for the Cougars, especially with Gibson.
“I think I hit seven fairways, so that was good, putting myself in good situations,” Gibson said. “I didn’t hit as many greens as I’d like to, but having clutch putts, I guess, and that one birdie on No. 4 was a good. A good start is always key and it really got me going.”
Eastern Hancock’s Haleigh Cavaletto led the Royals with a 53. Shelby Jackson was right behind with a 54.
New Palestine’s second-best performer was Michaela Purnell at 51, followed by Abby Belgin at 52.
With the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet approaching and sectional three weeks out, the Cougars aren’t changing up their title defense mindset despite retaining their county crown.
Last year, the Cougars won their first sectional title since 2011.
“Nothing has been normal this year, so this feels good, but we really want to try to be in the 160s,” Wiley said. “To get in the 160s isn’t unreasonable by any means. You just try to get better, and you don’t want to just think, we shot a 175, and we’re just as good as last year and be done.”
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2020 Hancock County Girls Golf Tournament
Team Scores: Greenfield-Central 175, Mt. Vernon 189, New Palestine 205, Eastern Hancock 242
Medalist: Caroline Gibson, Greenfield-Central (37)
2020 All-County Team
Caroline Gibson, Greenfield-Central 37
Alaina Nugent, Mt. Vernon 38
Tandess O’Neal, Greenfield-Central 40
Meredith Johnson, Mt. Vernon 44
Megan Diller, New Palestine 48*
Haley Hoagland, Greenfield-Central 48*
Emily Rollo, Mt. Vernon 48*
* – tied for fifth-place
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