Columbus North’s Erin Hopkins hits out of a fairway bunker on No. 4 during a golf match against Perry Meridian at Harrison Lake Country Club in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Aug. 12, 2024.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
While most girls golf teams around the state began playing in matches last week, Columbus North waited a week to begin competition.
The Bull Dogs opened their season Monday at Harrison Lake Country Club against a Perry Meridian team that brought only three golfers, one short of the number needed to score as a team. North put up a 192 team total.
“We started school last week, and I just felt like this is the best approach for the year for us,” North coach Scott Seavers said of the late start.
Senior Erin Hopkins led the way for the Bull Dogs, winning medalist honors with a 5-over-par 40 on Harrison Lake’s front nine.
“I think it was a great team effort all the way around,” Hopkins said. “I had a solid round today, but my sand shots need some work for sure. I think there’s definitely room for improvement. But overall, everyone played really good today.”
Senior Lindsey Hartwell was tied with Hopkins after she finished No. 9, which was her eighth hole. But then Hartwell took a 9 on the par-5 No. 1 and had to settle for a 44.
“I just had one bad hole again,” Hartwell said. “I need to work on sand trap shots and clean up a few strokes around that. This round wasn’t my best round, but it’s the beginning of the season, so I see myself improving from here.”
Kara Buntin added a 51, and Harper Andresen rounded out North’s scoring with a 57. Ana Pavlov had a 66.
“I don’t think we played bad,” Seavers said. “I think each of us had a hole or two that we didn’t do our best on, and we’re going to work on cleaning that up. We aren’t that far from playing well overall, so I’m optimistic. We just want to get better all year long.””
