Daily Reporter staff report
CARMEL — After a productive first day, New Palestine’s Annaliese Fox carried over her opening-round momentum to tie for 15th overall during the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals.
Fox, a sophomore, fired a 5-over par 77 on Saturday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel to finish with a two-round total of 157. She shot an 80 on Friday to tie for 20th on the leaderboard while flirting with a top-10 placement throughout the day.
On Saturday, Fox posted the best two-day state finals performance in girls golf program history.
The Dragons’ top golfer tied for the eighth-best individual one-round score on Saturday, to push her into the top 15. Sarah Frazier of Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger also carded a 157 to share 15th with Fox.
Plainfield’s Kayla Benge won the individual girls golf state title with a two-day score of 145, finishing 1-over par through the tournament. Fox was 13-over par through the weekend.
Entering Saturday, Fox was 8-over par after shooting a 3-over par 39 on the back nine and a 41 on the front during her first career state finals appearance.
At the start of the season, Fox shot a 74 through 18-holes at Prairie View on Aug. 5 during the state preview meet to lead the Dragons. Her score was good enough for fourth overall at the event as the team compiled a 406 for 18th.
A fierce competitor, Fox helped guide the Dragons to a fourth straight sectional championship by shooting a 77 at Old Oakland behind senior teammate McKenzi Black, who won medalist honors with a 1-under par 70.
The Dragons won a third straight Hoosier Heritage Conference championship on Sept. 9 behind Fox’s individual championship score of 77. The team also won its fourth consecutive Hancock County title this season with Fox posting a 41 through nine holes.
During the state meet’s second day, Fox, much like Friday, started off slow before finding her rhythm.
Fox bogeyed her first two holes on the back nine before posted pars on the next three. A double-bogey, followed by another bogey put her at 5-over par where she held after back-to-back pars on the 17th and 18th holes.
A bogey to open the front nine bumped her up to 6-over par, but three pars minimized the damage. Three birdies on her final five holes, sandwiched around two bogeys brought her down to 5-over.
For the second straight day, Fox shot the best score in her state finals group with an even par 36 on her last nine holes through the front nine.
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Hole-by-Hole Results
Hole;1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;Front
Par;4;4;5;3;4;3;5;4;4;36
Rd 2;5;4;5;3;3;4;4;5;3;36
To Par;+6;+6;+6;+6;+5;+6;+5;+6;+5;Even
Hole;10;11;12;13;14;15;16;17;18;Back
Par;4;4;3;5;4;3;4;4;5;36
Rd 2;5;5;3;5;4;5;5;4;5;41
To Par;+1;+2;+2;+2;+2;+4;+5;+5;+5;+5;+5
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