GREENFIELD — For her senior year, Sydnie Wherry went for the trifecta and came out with a quadfecta.

The Greenfield-Central senior golfer is The Daily Reporter Girls Golf Athlete of the Year.

Set out to win the Hancock County, Hoosier Heritage Conference and sectional tournaments, Wherry achieved that goal, but in winning those three titles she added a fourth accomplishment that will live on with the rest.

There’s not a ribbon or medal that goes with it, but Wherry’s most triumphant achievement on the course may be her inspiration to others.

Regularly shooting in the 70s as a high school senior didn’t happen overnight. In fact, there may have been times when it looked like it was something that may not happen at all.

Wherry admitted she wasn’t very good at first, but she kept putting in time and effort that got her to where she was a champion in three of the biggest contests of the season.

“I put a lot of thought into it my seventh grade year and said, ‘I think I could see myself competitively doing this,’” Wherry recalled. “Let’s join the middle school team and see how it goes. I didn’t get to play a lot, or get a lot of experience … In high school I started taking lessons, got more serious, and got clubs that actually fit me. I thought, I could go somewhere with this if I put enough effort into it.”

She put in the effort but also remembers how well that first big high school tournament went.

“I shot 120 my first 18-hole match,” she said. “I thought that was decent. However, the girl I was playing with shot an 80. I said, ‘I’m going to try and I’m going to put effort and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to get better.”

She dropped 40 strokes from her freshman to sophomore season.

“Her freshman year, I don’t think she broke 100,” Greenfield-Central coach Russ Wiley said. “I don’t know if I’ve had anyone improve as much in their four years as what she did. I’m not even sure if she was on varsity her freshman year. We had a strong (veteran) team. If she did she would have been the fifth player.”

As a sophomore, Wherry made the varsity and was the team’s No. 5 player. She shot a career-best round of 88 in the regional to help propel the team to the state tournament. Her score was the second best on her team that day. Another player had to withdraw earlier in the tournament, so her score had to count. Greenfield-Central grabbed the third and final qualifying spot by a mere five strokes.

She was the team’s best player as a junior and added to that in her final season, taking home the three titles. She shot a 39 in the nine-hole county tournament at Hawk’s Tail of Greenfield, to win by two strokes over New Palestine’s Zoe Nelson.

In the HHC tournament at Albany Golf Course, she tied for the top spot with Delta’s Belle Brown. Both shot a 78 for 18 holes. Wherry won the tournament on the first playoff hole, No. 9, where she had triple-bogeyed earlier in the day.

At the sectional, back at Hawk’s Tail, Wherry won with an 81, again beating Nelson, this time by three shots.

She accomplished it all by sticking with it, practicing and putting the amount of time in that it takes to be a champion.

“I remember after breaking 120 my freshmen year I’d shoot 120 and then I shot a 117, and thought, ‘Hey, we’re getting somewhere.’ The year I broke 100 it was like a 99 or a 98 and it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m actually having success!’

“The reaction kept getting more and more positive and happier when you break 120, 110, 100 and then I’m breaking 90. It’s so exciting, mentally, to finally see the results and the time and effort pay off.”

Wherry doesn’t plan on playing golf, competitively, in college. She is going to go to Auburn University and study Landscape Architecture in hopes of being on the other side of the golf industry.

But, she certainly left a legacy at G-C and an inspiration to youngster wanting to accomplish goals even if there are rough patches on the way.

“(The trifecta) was incredible,” Wherry said. “It’s an honor to be able to hold that title. I see a lot of people put in a lot of hard work. I think it’s a message to a lot of people. I’ve told my teammates this, and a lot of younger girls that have played with me — it’s not a bragging moment — but I think it’s a message to a lot of people that if you put the work in and you put the time in this is something that can happen. It was an exciting moment at the sectional (when I won the third tournament). It showed this is what happens if you put in the effort.”

“She really worked hard and got herself better. That’s what I’ll always remember,” Wiley added. “She took a big jump every year.”

2022 Daily Reporter Fall Sports Honors

Girls Golf Athlete of the Year: Sydnie Wherry, Greenfield-Central

Girls Golf Coach of the Year: Sarah O’Brien, New Palestine

*All-Hancock County Team

Sydnie Wherry, Greenfield-Central; Zoe Nelson, New Palestine; Izzy VanHeel, Mt. Vernon; Katie Kelley, New Palestine, Katie Stanfield, New Palestine

*Determined by 2022 Hancock County Tournament