CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Eastern Hancock Royals set the bar high last season, but that was just the start.
Now, they want more.
Coming off a winning campaign in 2019, the Royals girls golf team is aiming to repeat the feat under the guidance of first-year head coach Dustin Eck, and it has the competitors to reach its goals.
Returning three starters, including senior Haleigh Cavaletto, the Royals have their sights locked on chipping away at the competition this fall, beginning on the road against Wapahani today.
“From what I’ve seen so far from the girls, they work hard. They want to work. I think, Jocelyn (Duncan) last year and Haleigh, they kind of set the tone and it just carried over this year with the upperclassmen,” Eck said. “Haleigh and Shelby (Jackson) are leading the way for sure.”
The Royals welcome back three individuals that competed in last year’s New Palestine Sectional at the Links Golf Course in Southern Hancock County.
The team’s top golfer, Cavaletto, was named the Royals’ most valuable player in 2019. Jackson, a junior, is projected to move into the No. 2 spot, and junior Inez Friddle will follow as the team’s third golfer.
Joining the mix in 2020 will be first-year golfer Mallory Bolding, a senior, and freshman newcomer Emily Grant. Friddle was named the team’s most improved competitor last season.
“(Cavaletto’s) competitive nature is going to help everybody on the team. She’s always wanting to make it a competition, and it’s carrying over to some of the other girls,” Eck said. “That will benefit not just the team this year but also years down the line with the underclassmen. Any little thing she does, she wants to win.”
In 2019, the Royals increased their efficiency as time went on, led by Cavaletto and Duncan. The team’s nine-hole game fell below the 200-mark during a 195-239 victory over Randolph Southern before the number dropped again prior to the sectional tournament.
During Eastern Hancock’s regular-season finale last season, the Royals carded a program record-low score of 188 in its victory against Centerville on their home course of Royal Hylands Golf Club. Duncan shot a school-record, nine-hole tally of 40.
While the team’s 188 set a new nine-hole standard for the program, the Royals’ team total of 410 through 18 holes during the 2019 sectional tournament also established a new milestone in the school record books.
As a team, the Royals finished sixth at sectional and were powered by Cavaletto’s overall score of 96. As the lone competitor to stay under 100 on the day, Cavaletto will be counted on to replace Duncan.
Duncan was named All-Mid-Eastern Conference in 2019, along with Cavaletto to give the program a representative in two of the past three years.
“It’s the culture. They enjoy each other and want to see each other succeed. This is what they want to do, and they’ve set out to do it and work hard,” Eck said. “They’re going to do what they need to do at every opportunity to do the best that they can. I think that speaks to their success more than anything.”
The Royals placed fourth in the MEC last fall, which was the second time in three seasons Eastern Hancock finished in the top five.
In 2018, the Royals were seventh overall in the MEC during former coach Cole Allen’s second year at the helm.
Eastern Hancock’s season record of 14-8 last year — in head-to-head match-ups and 24-16 overall including multi-team tournaments — marked the team’s best performance to date since 2005.
The program’s previous highest win total was 11 in 2001 under coach Blake Heim when the Royals went on to win the White River Athletic Conference championship with a pair of all-conference honorees in Erin Wyatt and Ashley Oakes.
With strong leadership atop the lineup, Eck believes the team’s chemistry and drive will put them in position to potentially chase down the past.
“(The returners) are great with Mallory and Emily, showing them the way and explaining the rules and the game. It’s all the unknowns you can’t go over. They’ve been really good at just jumping in and telling them how it’s going to go and what could work,” Eck said.
The key is playing their game, especially with four straight home matches after traveling to Cardinal Hills today for a 4:30 p.m. tee time against Wapahani.
“I think, if we can get to the greens, then we can focus on our strengths. They are very creative with their shot making. Creativity with different lies will be our strength, for sure scrambling when we get in close,” Eck said.
The Royals are five players deep this season and will be short-handed early on with Bolding out due to not having enough practices yet. But, she should be ready to go by their home opener on Tuesday against North Decatur.
“Honestly, I’m really enjoying myself,” said Eck, a 2003 New Palestine graduate and fifth-grade teacher at Eastern Hancock. “A lot of that is the girls. They’re really easy-going and like to work hard. There’s coaching, but they are very self-motivated. They take it and run with it. They’re fun to be around.”
