Bloomington North, Southern end seasons at golf regional
FRANKLIN — Bloomington South sophomore Melanie Southern was the top local finisher at the Franklin Regional on a blustery Saturday at The Legends shooting a 80 to tie for 10th.
Bloomington North, led by an 87 from junior Darian Lafferty, ended up 13th with a 439.
Only the top three teams and top two individuals not on those teams advanced to the state finals.
It was another chilly start as Southern opened with a 43 on the Creek nine, then finished strong with a 37, which included a birdie on No. 16.
"Melanie gave it her best out there today on a difficult test of golf," South coach Jim Southern said. "She started the morning off on the Creek nine and with the cool temperatures coupled with the wind made scoring difficult.
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"Melanie ... did a great job of pushing the reset button and starting fresh (on the back nine). Additionally, to my best knowledge Melanie hit 100% of her fairways off the tee today which is incredible."
North's four seniors ended their careers with their first regional rounds. Ivy Yoder had a 115, Mallory Barrow a 118, Libby Rice a 119 and Anna Toohill a 128.
"I think they were less nervous for the regional than they were the sectional," North coach Brian Muehlhaus said. "We talked about just go out have fun with our four seniors on our team. Then with Darian, her trying to play aggressive and make something happen for herself, but also go out and have fun."
North started on the back nine where Lafferty had a three-over 39, but the Creek nine was a bit rougher. It bit her right away with a three-putt on her 10th hole. She also had to take an unplayable lie on the seventh. Muehlhaus hopes she'll be back but was happy his seniors had their chance before they left.
"It's great they got to finish their career at regional," Muehlhaus said. "At sectional, that third spot was up for grabs and I think part of the reason we got it is because we had four seniors."
Center Grove won the team title with a 313, while Batesville (320) and Floyd Central (321) also moved on. Columbus North's Ava Bunker had a 70 and Franklin's Lexi Ray a 72 to advance as individuals.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
FRANKLIN REGIONAL
Top 3 teams advance to state: 1. Center Grove 313; 2. Batesville 320; 3. Floyd Central 321; 4. Franklin 328; 5. Columbus North 343; 6. New Albany 364; 7. Columbus East 383; 8. Corydon Central 386; 9. Franklin County 387; 10. Perry Meridian 404; 11. East Central 423; 12. Jennings County 430; 13. Bloomington North 439; 14. Madison 476; 15. Lawrenceburg 486.
Individual qualifiers: Ava Bunker, CN, 70; Lexi Ray, Frank, 72.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IHSAA: Bloomington North, Southern end seasons at golf regional
