GREENSBURG — The Greenfield-Central girls golf team finished sixth overall Saturday at the Greensburg Invitational.
Shooting a combined 396, the Cougars, led by senior Makenzie Fisk’s career-best score of 79, outpaced 13 other teams.
Fisk, a three-time regional qualifier, spent her summer competing in the Indiana Golf Foundation Junior Tour, and it paid off during the season opener at Greensburg Country Club.
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The Cougars’ No. 1 golfer traveled across Indiana and out of state, playing on numerous courses in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Iowa during the offseason.
She was named All-Hoosier Heritage Conference for a second time last fall and has been an All-Hancock County finisher in the past.
As a junior, she shot an 86 at sectional, improving her card by two strokes from the previous year. As a freshman on the regional-qualifying Greenfield-Central team, Fisk shot a 97.
With her breakout start to the 2015 season in Greensburg, she appears determined to challenge for one of the top spots in the county.
As a team, however, Greenfield-Central head coach Russ Wiley believes there is still work to do.
Franklin County won the invitational with a 363, tying with Mooresville. Columbus East was third at 364, Greensburg’s A-team was fourth at 379, and Indian Creek placed fifth with a 383.
Beyond Fisk’s medalist performance, Greenfield-Central’s Megan Garner had a 96 followed by Kim Miles at 109. Lindsey McCord scored a 112.
“Overall a disappointing day with the exception of Makenzie’s score,” Wiley said. “I feel like we have lots of room to improve still.”
Up next, the Cougars have four matches in four days, including a twosome against Rushville at Antler Pointe to start the week. They face Columbus East again today along with Whiteland in a three-way at Otter Creek.
On Wednesday, they host Perry Meridian at Hawk’s Tail and then see No. 11 Center Grove at home on Thursday.
Dragons struggle
It wasn’t the start the New Palestine girls golf team was hoping for, but the Dragons aren’t shying away from the result.
Finishing 20th overall during Saturday’s State Preview at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, No. 15 New Palestine recorded a 402 to stay three strokes out of last place ahead of No. 4 Martinsville.
“(Our score) was higher than I expected us to be, but at the same time courses will play differently each time you play them,” New Palestine head coach Greg Greene said. “It was also the first big-time competitive match for a couple of the girls, and the other ones were in different positions than they’ve had to play before, so there was adjustments to those.”
Mackenzi Black shot a team-best 79, starting at the No. 1 spot for the first time in her career. The sophomore repeatedly made “smart decisions,” Greene said, which led to a top-20 individual placement.
“She kept the ball in play. She made some great putts; and when she needed to in order to save par, she stayed close. Overall, it was a really good day for her,” Greene said. “She’ll continue to get better all year. She did that all year, too. She just needs to get comfortable playing that No. 1 spot consistently.”
The tournament field consisted of 15 of the state’s top-20 ranked programs, including No. 2 Westfield, which won with a 322. The Shamrocks’ Cailyn Henderson took medalist honors with a 69.
Other than Black, no other New Palestine golfer came in under 100. Carly Jones shot 104. Cassie Rooks came in at 108, and Cassidy Harp scored 111.
“That was high for Cassie. Much higher than normal, but she had a stretch in her opening nine that were pretty rough,” Greene said. “She got back on track, swinging the club better, and you could see she kind of got in a groove afterward for a bit. She’s a solid golfer, county champion last year, but it just wasn’t her day.”
Payton Hill was New Palestine’s fifth golfer in the tournament.
No. 9 Carmel was second with a 324. No. 5 Columbus North finished third at 327. Third-ranked Hamilton Southeastern was fourth at 331, and No. 6 Lake Central rounded out the top five.
Other ranked teams included: No. 16 Zionsville (340), No. 8 Crown Point (346), No. 11 Center Grove (352), No. 10 Chesterton (352), No. 16 Noblesville (356), No. 18 Leo (365), No. 12 Bloomington South (373), and No. 19 Plainfield (386).
The Dragons won’t have much time to reflect this week with three matches in three days, beginning with Southport at Hawk’s Tail. On Tuesday, they host Greenwood before traveling to No. 16 Noblesville at Harbour Trees Golf Course on Wednesday.
“Everything is a learning experience win, lose or draw. All we’re trying to do is get better at something every day. We have a lot of things now we know we can do and work on,” Greene said. “
“The girls are all disappointed in how they played, but that’s not a bad thing. What that tells me is they want to win and they expect good things out of their game all the time. I would be disappointed if they were satisfied.”
