Columbus North’s Erin Hopkins watches her drive on No. 4 during a match against Columbus East Tuesday at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
When the Columbus North and Columbus East girls golfers play in the Bloomington North Sectional on Monday, they’ll be among the favorites to finish in the top three and advance to Saturday’s Franklin Regional.
The Olympians are paired with Conference Indiana champion Bloomington South and Martinsville, while the Bull Dogs are paired with Brown County and Edgewood. Those teams will tee off beginning at 8:30 a.m. Monday at Cascades Golf Course.
“Bloomington South is by far the favorite,” Columbus North coach Scott Seavers said. “If they play their best golf, and we play our best golf, they have the best shot to win. But we’re just going to go in and worry about ourselves and play as well as we can and be able to move on. That’s our goal.”
Both the Bull Dogs and Olympians are playing their best golf of the season. Both teams posted their lowest nine-hole scores of the season on Tuesday when Columbus North edged East 177-178 at Otter Creek in the regular-seaon finale for both teams.
“We are doing an awesome job,” East coach LaDonna VanDeventer said. “We are getting (personal records), and we’re moving forward. It’s amazing how they’ve had a turnaround.”
“We are playing as well as we’ve played all year long,” Seavers said. “That’s always our goal — to try to get better throughout the year and peak at the right time, and that’s now always easy to do.”
The Bull Dogs have been led all season by juniors Erin Hopkins and Lindsey Hartwell, with juniors Kara Buntin and Ana Pavlov and freshman Harper Andresen providing support.
Columbus East’s Carter Gant watches her chip shot on No. 3 during a match against Columbus North Tuesday at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Senior Carter Gant has been the Olympians’ top golfer, with seniors Dyana Foster and Ali Trueblood and junior Grace LaSell interchangeable with their second, third and fourth scores.
“Our goal is to get out of sectional, and we’re ready to go,” VanDeventer said. “I think they can do it. ”
Brown County and Edinburgh also will compete at Cascades. While the Eagles and Lancers likely won’t be in contention to advance as a team, Brown County junior Lilly VanNess and Edinburgh senior Izzy Richardson and junior Macie Blandford could contend to make it to regional as individuals.
