GREENFIELD — As Alaina Nugent and Annaliese Fox made their way to the tee at Hole No. 1 at Hawk’s Tail in Greenfield, different thoughts were going through their heads.
Nugent, a freshman from Mt. Vernon, and Fox, a junior from New Palestine, were headed to a sudden-death playoff to determine who would be the top medalist at Tuesday’s Hancock County Tournament.
“I’ve been in a few sudden deaths in the Indiana Jr. Golf Association and USGA, but for school it was kind of different,” Fox said. “Seeing a freshman come in and shoot her first 38 of the year — she was really nice. I think she was kind of nervous. I think we all were. I think the main thing is, it’s just an extra hole. You just keep playing how you’re playing, just focus and play as good as you expect you’re going to play.”
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Fox is used to the big settings, having been all-county the past three years and making it to the state finals last year.
Nugent shot her best round ever Tuesday on her way to the playoff of her first ever county golf experience.
“I was just like, ‘I’ve never done this before, this is crazy,’” Nugent said. “I was really excited.”
The sudden death lasted one hole and came down to putting. Fox was about 12 feet out, Nugent a little closer. But Fox had gotten to the green in one less shot.
Both missed their first putt. Fox clinched the win by making a 2-footer.
That wasn’t the only win for New Palestine. The Dragons won their fifth straight county crown, shooting 177 as a team. Mt. Vernon was second, with a 192. Greenfield-Central finished third, with a 202, and Eastern Hancock was fourth with a 271.
“This is a lot of fun. I saw a lot of grit today,” New Palestine coach Sarah O’Brien said. “I’ve got three of them not feeling well — they’ve got colds, really battled through. It was hot, but I take my hat off to them. They played very well today.”
Joining Fox and Nugent on the all-county team as top-five finishers were New Palestine’s Izzy Gray in third with a 42 and Greenfield-Central’s Haley Hoagland and Caroline Gibson, who shot 43 and 44 respectively.
The Dragons dominated the all-county list last year, with four golfers making it, including both Fox and Gray.
The Cougars duo just missed last year. They found their way into the top five this year with strong performances.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had two,” Greenfield-Central coach Russ Wiley said. “The competition with New Pal the last six, seven years, you better come in with a 43 or better to even think about getting up there. It’s nice, especially for (Hoagland and Gibson), it’s sort of a natural step for them. Hopefully they’ll get a little higher next year, too.”
Rounding out the New Palestine scores were Megan Diller with a 46, Abby Belgin with a 51 and Michaela Purnell with a 53.
Another freshman for Mt. Vernon, Meredith Johnson, finished second on her team with a 46. Ava Hampton added a 50, Lily Hampton a 58 and Savannah McKemie a 60.
Johnson’s score, combined with the 38 from Nugent, helped the Marauders drastically improve from last year’s county score of 228.
“They’re gelling perfect,” Mt. Vernon coach Aaron Shewman said. “The two freshmen are playing great this year, really pushing the seniors to play better. I gave them a challenge today, and they ran with it.”
That challenge was two-fold. Winning county was part one. While they didn’t get there, they improved their score by 36 and jumped from a third-place finish last year to second place this year.
The second part of the challenge was achieved in a big way. Shewman wanted the team to do better on the third hole after a tough day there Saturday. His top four scorers combined for a 23 on the hole Saturday. They shot a 13 on the hole at county.
That, combined with the overall improvement, gives the team a boost heading into the last few weeks before sectional play.
“I think it’s going to give them even a little more confidence than we’ve had,” Shewman said. “We’ve started out 7-0, we’ve had a good year, but I think the last week we kind of lost that. That’s why today I wanted to perform good, to get ready for the rest of the year.”
Shewman was thrilled to see Nugent step up in such a big way in her first county match. The coach had his team write down their goals before county, and Nugent wrote that she wanted to get in the 30s for the first time.
She met her goal, giving her confidence and excitement for next year. It impressed her coach, too.
“She’s been working really hard lately,” Shewman said. “She stayed out until dark last night. She was determined today to shoot a really good score. She took it well. She had no pressure. She amazed me.”
Fox impressed her coach as well, even though her day didn’t start as well as she had hoped.
The junior hooked a 3-wood out of bounds on her first shot before calming down and bogeying the first hole, a result she said was as good as you can expect after the first shot sailing out.
Her day definitely ended well, though, with the playoff win.
“She just brings so much experience, confidence and is just a real, true leader for this team, which is great,” O’Brien said.
Greenfield-Central’s scoring was rounded out by a 55 from Tandess O’Neal, a 60 from Rose Gerard and a 62 from Phoenix Breese. Eastern Hancock got a 58 from Jocelyn Duncan, 67s from Daly Pelger and Shelby Jackson, and a 79 from Isabella Parker.