CARMEL — The Columbus North girls golfers shot the fifth-best 36-hole total in Girls Golf State finals history Friday and Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Bull Dogs, two of the top four totals were also shot this weekend. Second-ranked Evansville North won its third consecutive state title with a 618, while No. 1 Westfield took second at 620 and No. 4 Columbus North was third at 623.
“I’m not disappointed at all,” North coach Scott Seavers said. “Our goal was to place in the top four or better, and we did that. We shot two good scores the last two days, and we’re happy with those scores. If you asked me before the tournament if we’d have shot those scores if we’d be happy, I’d have been ecstatic.”
The Bull Dogs did have the tournament’s medalist. Senior Holly Anderson fired rounds of 75 and 71 to finish at 2-over-par 146.
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Anderson won by two shots under Elyse Stasil of Chesterton.
“She’s just good,” Seavers said of Anderson. “She’s very consistent. She doesn’t make any mistakes. She’s confident. She’s worked really hard to get to this point. I couldn’t be more happy for her or more proud of her. She’s just a great competitor, and she’s so deserving.”
The Bull Dogs had another top-five finisher in Danbi Kim. The junior shot back-to-back 75s to tie for fifth at 150.
“That’s the best I’ve shot this season for an 18-hole round,” Kim said. “So doing that at state was really amazing, and I feel like I’ve done really well.”
Columbus North got big boosts from No. 4 golfer Julia Luken, who carded an 80 in the first round, and No. 5 golfer Aubrey Smith, who had an 81 in the final round. No. 3 golfer Alex Munnicha shot 84 and 82.
Munnicha finished in a tie for 39th at 166, while Luken tied for 42nd at 168. Smith tied for 57th at 173.
“We all left shots out there,” Anderson said. “But it’s state, and I think we finished pretty well.”
The tournament was twice delayed by rain on Friday, and play was suspended because of darkness with the top three teams having finished between 15 and 17 holes. The Bull Dogs were in third place at that point before climbing to second after the completion of the first round on Saturday morning.
Columbus North was still in second after the front nine in the final round, but Westfield, which improved from a 318 to a 302, caught fire on the back.
“I felt like we were consistent (Friday) and today,” Seavers said. “We didn’t have any big, bad holes that affected us. We just stayed steady, we were confident and believed in our game plan.”
Meanwhile, Brown County senior Emma Bawinkel ended her high school career with a tie for 65th at state. Bawinkel carded rounds of 90 and 87.
Bawinkel, who had qualified as an individual, was making her first trip to state.
“It definitely was not my best round, and I wasn’t really happy with it, but I have to accept the fact that you have good days and you have bad days,” Bawinkel said. “This is my first time playing here, and it’s a really awesome course. But I was honored to even be here and play here.”
