Greenfield-Central’s Sydnie Wherry watches her tee shot on the 10th tee during the Lapel Regional at The Edge Golf Course & Country Club in Anderson on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Graduation has taken away a portion of Greenfield-Central’s girls golf team, but it hasn’t taken away Hancock County’s top returning player.
The Cougars will head into the 2022 season led by senior Sydnie Wherry.
Wherry was runner-up in last year’s Hoosier Heritage Conference tournament and fourth in the Hancock County meet. All three players that finished ahead of her are not back this season.
“She’s had a good summer and played in a lot of tournaments,” Greenfield-Central coach Russ Wiley said. “I am hoping in the sectional and regional she can score in the mid-70s or so. (Our team) will start with her score. We have a lot of new people after that, for the most part.”
As a team, in 2021, Greenfield-Central placed second at county and sectional. The Cougars were third at the HHC meet.
The graduation of Katie Curry, Abigail Mulligan and Brynn Elliott leave some holes to fill in Wiley’s lineup.
He has 10 players on the squad this year. Following Wherry, the coach hopes another varsity returnee, junior Ella Neill, will move up from the No. 5 to No. 2 position.
Senior Laney Elliott, cousin to recent grad Brynn Elliott, sophomores Della Hedge and Tanessa O’Neal and junior Reagan Breese are expected to compete for the remaining varsity positions. All have been part of G-C’s junior varsity team.
Wiley said, at Hawk’s Tail of Greenfield — the team’s home course — Wherry usually shoots below 40 (for nine holes), while Neill and Laney Elliott are in the mid to high 40s.
“After that, there’s a big unknown,” he said. “We’re hoping to get around 50, for nine holes, (from the other potential scores) and I think we will have a pretty solid team. It should give a team score around 180, give or take, which is pretty strong for our girls team, typically.”
While there may be some undiscovered talent, the Cougars have a mainstay in Wherry.
“She’s got the ability to go to state as an individual,” Wiley said of his senior. “It’s a pretty competitive score to get at the regional. You usually have to shoot about a 75 or 76. She’s done that there before and it has to be the right day. She’s put in the work to get to that level. I would expect her to definitely be right there for the sectional win and county and conference wins.”
A key, according to the coach, for Wherry is here steadiness.
“She’s just really consistent,” Wiley added. “She’s a good ball striker. That keeps her in it. It’s unusual for her to have a big blow-up hole. She makes a lot of pars and bogeys and sneaks in a birdie here and there. She is very consistent hole-to-hole, round-to-round and doesn’t take a lot of big scores.”
Greenfield-Central opens its season Thursday with a triangular meet with Columbus East and Whiteland at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin.
The first home meet at Hawk’s Tail is Monday, Aug. 8 against Rushville.
“We still lost a lot off our team that was pretty good (last year), but I think we’ll have a pretty good team, a team that can move on to the regional. I think that’s a minimum expectations,” Wiley said.
