Girls' Golf Season Starting

As August gets under way, so does the high school girls' golf season.

The following is a look at Warsaw, Wawasee and Valley outlooks this year. Previews on Manchester and Whitko will appear at a later date.

WARSAW TIGERS

Warsaw went 15-5 last year, and the Tigers return more veterans than any other local team. The Tigers won the Northern Lakes Conference, but the season came to a halt when the Tigers placed fourth at the sectional.

The Tigers lost Maria Kittrell and Heather Gaunt to graduation. Tricia Suchecki, Julie Arnold and Amy Landis are back as seniors. They also have sophomores Brooke Westover and Ashley Cooper and freshman April Turner.

"I really have six girls for five spots," Warsaw coach Bob Turner said. "Tricia Suchecki will be No. 1. My three seniors will be in the one, two and three positions (Landis and Arnold). After that, I have two other girls, and April Turner will probably be the sixth."

Westover will probably golf in the fourth spot, while Turner and Cooper compete for the fifth spot.

"Tricia hits a long ball. If she can keep the ball in play, she doesn't have very far to go on her next shot," Turner said. "I know for a fact she played a lot this summer, and I look for her to be a pretty decent player. Amy Landis has been with me for four years, and she's very consistent. She's a grinder. Julie Arnold has a good short game."

On paper, the Tigers look good. Turner knows writing on paper doesn't automatically translate into wins.

"The big question is, how much did they practice this summer," Turner said. "If they practiced and played this summer, we should be pretty decent. If they didn't, we'll be like everyone else."

Turner can only hope practice time was put in over the summer. Friday was Warsaw's first official day of practice. Tuesday the Tigers have their opening match at East Noble.

Warsaw again has a good shot at winning the NLC. The only team standing in the Tigers' way will be Goshen, which arguably has the best NLC golfer in Inga Snyder.

"Inga Snyder is probably the premiere girl in the conference, and I look for them (Goshen) to be pretty decent," Turner said. "I think Goshen, us and Wawasee are probably the top three."

WAWASEE WARRRIORS

Four years ago Wawasee's golf team was as bad as bad can get. But at least the Warriors were young. They were freshmen, and they could develop.

And they did.

They won 17 matches last season and advanced to the regional as a team.

Bill Lantz, now in his fifth season as head coach, was in his first season when the Warriors had the awful team four years ago. He was there last year, when the team won the sectional.

What will happen this year?

Lantz couldn't tell you.

"I really don't know what to expect at all," Lantz admits.

Junior Kari Wortinger, sophomore Julia Wolfe and sophomore Jennifer Light are the only returning letterwinners. Sophomore Jennifer Light played a few varsity matches. Amy Ray, Liz Brunner and Michelle Fisher graduated.

"Kari and Amy Ray alternated playing No. 1," Lantz said. "Kari was third at the sectional, and she was our top performer at the regional. She'll be a very solid player, because she plays a lot in the summer and really works at her game. She's the only known. I'm pretty confident of her abilities."

"Julia was in a situation last year where we never had to count her score. This year, she will be in a totally different situation where she has to perform. Our total lack of experience ... she's going to really have to come through for us to have any chance of being a decent team."

The rest will be freshmen or sophomores, possibly one junior. Lantz said Wortinger spent much of this summer trying to talk Carly Beer into joining the team. Beer, a junior, already stars in softball and basketball.

"Kari was trying to talk Carly Beer into playing, on the assumption she's a good athlete," Lantz said. "I don't know what will come of that."

Just like he doesn't know what will come of this team. One thing's for sure: whatever happens, it can't shock Lantz. He's seen the bad times; he's seen the good times.

"We're going to be starting over," he said. "You can't lose what we lost last year and keep the same (pace), especially since we don't have people coming up behind them. But we're starting over with Kari as our leader. Four years ago, we didn't have anybody like Kari."

Lantz tabbed Goshen and Warsaw as the top teams in the NLC.

"I would think Goshen and Warsaw will be strong," Lantz said. "Goshen has everybody back. Inga Snyder played a lot this summer, and I imagine she will be the top in the conference."

Wawasee opens its season at the Huntington Invitational on Thursday.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS

Last season the Tippecanoe Valley Viking golf team set a record. The Vikings went 13-6, recording the most wins in a season by any Viking golf team.

Back from that team are seniors Kara Tucker and Kelly Montelongo and sophomore Kati Ellenwood. But the Vikings also lost Jill Faulkner, Anina Gast and Connie Brazo to graduation.

"They will be tough to replace, but at least we have some numbers out," sixth-year coach Roger Moriarty said. "We have five or six freshmen, which is good. That's where they have to start. Get them when they're freshmen and keep them for four years."

Newcomers to the team include sophomore Brenda Rose and freshmen Wendy Tobin, Mandy Barber, Terra Weaver, Erica Pontious and Mary Gast.

Moriarty sees good things from these young players. Rose played golf in junior high. Tobin and Weaver had brothers on the golf team, and Pontious had a sister on the team.

"We have a lot of kids from good golf families," Moriarty said. "We're talking about kids who were out on the course this summer. Most are from the Akron area, so they were playing at Mill Creek in Rochester, our home course.

"We'll be inexperienced. We have two seniors, and then we go down to two sophomores."

There is no question that Tucker will lead the way.

"Our medalist, winner of putting trophy and co-captain last year was Kara," Moriarty said. "We had a girl named Heidi Fugate who played for us. Kara has a shot at getting some of her records. Kara's just a competitor. It doesn't matter what she's playing - she wants to nail you. That keeps her in a lot of matches.

"Kelly's in her fourth year with us, and her scores have come down year after year. We're hoping to see 45, 46 from her pretty consistently. That would give us a pretty good base with two girls.

"Kati, as a freshman, averaged 60. We're looking at that to come down to 52 or so. I need to find two other kids who can be right around that 50 mark. If you get under 200 in girls' golf, you can be competitive. Last year, we averaged 211."

The Vikings open their season at Northwestern on Friday. Moriarty said Northwestern would probably be No. 1 in the preseason rankings.

The Manchester and Whitko golf previews will run next Monday.