NEW PALESTINE — For the first time in four years, New Palestine’s girls golf team will have a different look at the top of the lineup.
For four years the spot of top Dragon golfer had predominantly been held by Annaliese Fox.
Fox graduated in 2020 and will go down as the best, to date, that has ever played at NPHS. She won the Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference titles four times each. She hoisted the individual sectional title trophy three times and was a three-time qualifier for the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
She owns the school’s nine-hole (32) and 18-hole (68) records. In three state finals appearances, she had two top-15 finishes with a best placing of 13th.
She’ll play NCAA Division-I golf at IUPUI this season.
Fox wasn’t the only Dragon to graduate. Three others, including two other top five players are also gone.
Izzy Gray played last season at No. 2 and had a 43.7 average in nine-hole events. Rachel Purnell played both No. 4 and No. 5. Traci Olsen was another key part of the team that graduated.
“We graduated four seniors that were a big part of the lineup, but I am really excited about our future,” New Palestine third-year coach Sarah O’Brien said. “We have two seniors returning and they’ll offer our younger kids guidance.”
Abby Belgin and Megan Diller are the Dragons two seniors. Junior Michaela Purnell is another player that gained valuable varsity experience during the 2019 season.
O’Brien said a slight edge may go to Diller, but she expects that No. 1 spot to be “up for grabs.”
“They will push each other,” she said.
Diller was the No. 3 golfer much of last season. Her average for nine-hole rounds was 48.2, but she had some of her best performances in the bigger 18-hole tournaments.
She shot an 88 at the Shelbyville Invitational and backed it up with an 89 on a return trip to the Shelbyville course (Bear Trace) for the Hoosier Heritage Conference Tournament.
O’Brien said the veteran trio should come in with improved games.
“All three have been playing this summer in tournaments,” O’Brien said.
The rest of the Dragon lineup will be made up of freshmen and sophomores.
Sophomore Zoe Nelson has a “ton of potential” and O’Brien looks for her to challenge for one of the team’s top spots.
Emily Hunter and Ava Hasecuster are two more sophomores returning with a year of high school golf experience.
“We’ve got a good crop of freshmen and sophomores,” O’Brien said.
She’ll have at least four freshmen on the 2020 team, including Lauren Appleby, Lauryn Hulet, Kate Stanfield and Hanna Beller.
“I love the seniors from last year and we’re going to miss them. We’re not starting over, but it is going to be quite a change,” O’Brien said.
“We want to come together as a team and have a family feel. We want to have a strong team unit and positive feel and root for each other,” the coach added.
The season opens today with a match against Fishers at the Tigers’ home course, Gray Eagle Golf Course.
Home matches for the Dragons have been moved back to Hawk’s Tail of Greenfield. The home opener is scheduled for Aug. 17 at 4 p.m. against Whiteland.
Before the opener, New Palestine will be tested by some tough courses and opponents.
They are scheduled to play Aug. 13 at Fox Prairie Golf Course in Noblesville against a Millers team that finished seventh in the state in 2019. The first 18-hole event is the Lapel Invitational Aug. 15 at Edgewood Golf Course in Anderson, the site of the regional. The host school placed 13th in last year’s state finals.
