Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
HUNTINGTON - Five words were all Warsaw girls golf coach Bob Turner needed to sum up Saturday's Huntington Regional: "Too much firepower for us," he said.
Marion, ranked No. 7, crushed the competition and won the regional at Norwood Golf Club with a 325. Culver Girls Academy, ranked No. 14, took second with a 355. Fort Wayne Snider, ranked No. 20, finished third with a 363.
All three teams advance to Friday's state finals at Prestwick Country Club in Avon.
For the second straight year Warsaw finished last at the Huntington Regional, this time shooting a 386. The Tigers finished nine strokes behind eighth-place DeKalb.
Turner knew going into the regional the Tigers faced an uphill climb. Four of the nine teams were ranked in the top 20 - Huntington North, ranked No. 18, finished fourth with a 368.
The Huntington Regional was one of three regionals in the state that hosted four top 20 schools.
"If it's not the toughest, it's one of the toughest ones," Turner said.
Kerri Wrobel, Warsaw's No. 1 golfer, turned in the Tigers' best score, an 87. Lara Reed, golfing in the No. 5 spot for Warsaw, turned in the Tigers' second-best score, a 96. Also for Warsaw, Tosha Nance shot a 97, April Turner a 106 and Kacy Jones a 107.
Two other local girls, Manchester's Dorey Bungitak and NorthWood's Amy VanBruaene, golfed in the individual portion of the tournament. VanBruaene shot an 86 and Bungitak a 94. Neither one advances to the state finals.
The Tigers did not practice on the course the week of the sectional as various matches required them to golf at Norwood three times in the last six weeks.
"The course is so dry, the ball keeps rolling and rolling," Bob Turner said. "I don't think practicing here this week could have helped."
Turner seemed resigned to his team's fate before the match. In basketball, teams can try various tactics to upset their opponents, like slowing the game down. Golfers are not going to shave five strokes off their average overnight.
"Basically we will try to better our average and have fun on the course," Turner said earlier this week. "We are being realistic about this match."
As soon as their final golfer reported, the Tigers were ready to leave. About the only thing that kept Turner and his team from leaving were problems finding the key to their van.
"I need to find the key to the van," he told his wife, "or we won't be going home."
Shortly after the key was found, and before Warsaw's final individual score had been written up on the chart, the Tigers had piled into their van, headed for home, their season completed.
HUNTINGTON NORTH GOLF REGIONAL
Saturday at Norwood Golf Course in Huntington
The top three teams and top three individuals not on those top three teams advance to Friday's state finals at Prestwick Country Club in Avon.
Team scores - 1. Marion 325, 2. Culver Girls Academy 355, 3. FW Snider 363, 4. Huntington North 368, 5. Columbia City 371, 6. East Noble 372, 7. Bellmont 374, 8. DeKalb 377, 9. Warsaw 386
No. 7 Marion - Musser 76, Garriott 79, Cascino 82, Powell 88, Strange 105
No. 14 Culver Girls Academy -ÊHaase 72, Velayo 89, Engstram 92, Mandel 102, Temple 124
No. 20 FW Snider -ÊPoitras 81, Ehresman 91, Davidson 94, Koehlinger 97, Joseph 101
No. 18 Huntington North -ÊOliver 86, Morrison 88, Hakes 96, Pape 98, Lauer 98
Columbia City -ÊBrown 87, Brooks 90, Smith 93, Lowe 101, Brandon 104
East Noble -ÊSparks 86, Clark 93, Schowe 96, Ream 97, Bentz 101
Bellmont - Cloud 82, Geyer 89, Blythe 100, Melcher 103, Ulman 116
DeKalb -ÊVerHage 89, Weimer 91, Blackwell 94, Bok 103, Thompson 109
Warsaw -ÊKerri Wrobel 87, Lara Reed 96, Tosha Nance 97, April Turner 106, Kacy Jones 107
Warsaw scores hole by hole:
Wrobel -Ê567 554 625 (45); 735 446 454 (42)
Reed -Ê773 564 636 (47); 545 465 497 (49)
Nance - 664 455 535 (43); 667 485 666 (54)
Turner -Ê774 756 669 (57); 737 454 685 (49)
Jones -Ê874 555 586 (53); 866 485 566 (54)
Top three individual scores by players not on advancing teams -ÊLauren Gant (Bishop Dwenger) 77, Tessa Cloud (Bellmont) 82, Brooke Klejnot (New Haven) 82
Other local scores -ÊJill Van Bruaene (NorthWood ) 86, Dorey Bungitak (Manchester) 94
Van Bruaene - 6(10)4 455 435 (46); 643 546 444 (40)
Bungitak -Ê553 754 568 (48); 636 445 576 (46)
