SYRACUSE - After opening its season Wednesday at home against Whitko and Concord, the Wawasee golf team finished the three-team match Friday.
The three teams played a number of holes Wednesday, but a thunderstorm midway through the match caused it to be rescheduled to Friday.After replaying the entire match, the Warriors came out on top, shooting a 188 on Maxwelton Golf Club's par-36 front nine. Concord scored a 212 in the non-conference match, while Whitko finished with a 236.
"The girls had to learn to adjust," Wawasee coach Scott DeHart said about playing the match two days after it was postponed. "Some of the girls got five holes in when we got rained out (Wednesday). So, they came back and adjusted well."
The top girl on the course was Wawasee senior Krista Zurcher, who shot a 41, scoring two birdies and three pars.
One of the birdies came on the course's 133-yard, par-3 eighth hole, where she came just a couple feet from getting an ace.
Even with the low score of the day, Zurcher did add a few strokes to her game with long days on the greens, but she wasn't the only Warrior who had a tough day putting.
"Cortney (Rassi) probably three-putted a couple greens and Alexis (Linnemeier) did too," DeHart said. "We always try to tell the girls they won't always have their 'A' game, so they have to adjust and compete with the game they brought that day. They just can't get frustrated."
Linnemeier finished her round with a 47, followed by Rassi's 50, Cayla Hilgenberg's 50 and Amber Miller's 55.
"It's a veteran team, and I've said all along, this team will go as far as the uppclassmen lead it," DeHart said.
DeHart may have a veteran squad, but Whitko coach Bryon Sprunger doesn't, as two of his girls are playing golf for the first time.
"We were hoping to shoot a 225, 230," Sprunger said. "So, we're a little higher than I would have hoped. But for two of the girls (Emily Weigold and Hannah Himes), it's their first match ever."
The Whitko Lady Wildcats were led by Taylor Shavely's 53, followed by Chloe Nestel's 57, Taylor Pottenger's 61, Weigold's 65 and Himes' 85.
"It's a beginning and not an end," Sprunger said. "We can go back and set some goals and see where we're headed. Last year, we started at 260 and worked our way down to the low 200s. So, we'll set some goals as a team and hopefully work our way down."
