County champion Kaley (KP) Pfister.

 

South Rowan team. Head coach Jeremy Boice,

Sawyer Sherrill, Margo Maples, Ava Blume, Sara Culbert.

RaElla Smokstad, assistant Kurt Culbert.

All-Rowan County: Ava Blume (South), Izzy Stepp (East),

Sara Culbert (South), Cailey Ludwick (East), Kaley Pfister (East),

Margo Maples (South), Jaelyn Earnhardt (East)

 

By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — East Rowan’s girls golf team won its eighth straight Rowan County championship on Thursday at McCanless.

While East has gotten used to winning titles under coach Rhett Teems, and now Tinsley Merrell, this one may have been the most satisfying for the Mustangs because just two days prior to the county event, South Rowan had topped East in a nine-hole match at Irish Creek. South’s top four had come in sprinting together like a pack of cross country runners — 46, 46, 47, 48.

Merrell knew the Mustangs would be hard-pressed to match South’s consistency.

Only the three best scores count in girls high school golf, but having a fourth solid option is still helpful. It takes a lot of pressure off when you know you’ve got another potential scorer in case someone has a bad day.

“South is deeper than we are,” Merrell said. “Nine holes at Irish Creek and they had four girls who broke 50 and we only had two. I hoped that playing 18 holes on Thursday would work to our advantage, but we went into this county tournament as underdogs.”

Merrell’s hope was that Izzy Stepp, a junior who shot 53 at Irish Creek, the fifth-best score on a five-girl team, would rebound in the county tournament. Stepp, a junior is talented and has had her moments, including a hole-in-one, but she’s been struggling and confidence for a teen golfer is a fragile thing.

The East and South golfers are about as friendly as rivals can be.

The coaches sincerely wished each other good luck in Thursday morning emails, and the teams have shared pizzas and laughs all season. Still the county tournament is serious business, and only one team was going to win it. Both wanted to be that team.

Merrell opted for a boxing analogy.

“To win, we needed a strong 1-2 punch from Kaley “KP” Pfister and Jaelyn Earnhardt and a strong uppercut from Izzy,” she said.

That’s what she got.

Pfister shot 85 and is the new county champ. Earnhardt, East’s steadiest golfer this season, shot 87 to tie for second. Stepp’s 91 was the third score for the champs. She was the wild card and came through in a big way. She finished fourth overall and gave the Mustangs a 12-shot margin of victory.

Pfister who shot 48 for nine holes on Tuesday, had a great 18 holes.

“She’s like a silent giant,” Merrell said. “Smiles a lot, doesn’t say a lot. I’d ask her how it was going and she would say, ‘Not good.’ But she was doing fine. Distance is her strength and she mashed huge drives. She almost drove the green on No. 7. Great drive on 15. I saw a nice par on 16.”

Still, South clearly had the upper hand in the early going.

“I was worried early because South came out really strong, and my girls told me that the South girls were smoking it,” Merrell said. “But I told the girls to stay with it, that we were playing 18 today, and we had plenty of time to come back. We just had to keep digging, one shot at a time, and that’s exactly what we did. And it was really important that we got the old Izzy back. It was good to see her dancing again. Good to see her smiling.”

East shot 263. South shot 275.

South’s scorers were Sara Culbert (87), Ava Blume (93) and Margo Maples (95).

“We’ve battled neck-and-neck with East all season in the South Piedmont Conference, and it’s been a lot of fun,” South coach Jeremy Boice said. “We’ve been able to beat East a few times by a few shots and beat them Tuesday at Irish Creek, but playing 18 holes is a lot different than nine. It’s like you’ve played your round, but wait, now you’ve got another round still to go. It was a warm day for October. The heat set in and the fatigue set in on the back nine, and it was a lot to deal with mentally and physically, but you’ve got to keep going, and we’ll learn from it.”

East’s Cailey Ludwick, a junior who started playing golf this year, shot 95 for the Mustangs. She tied for sixth and joined Pfister, Earnhardt, Culbert, Stepp, Blume and Maples on the All-Rowan County team.

Ludwick showed up in a red shirt — all of her teammates got the memo that the team was wearing blue — so the Mustangs jokingly called her “Freshman” all day. That just added to the fun.

East’s fifth player, Ava Alderman, shot 102.

Sawyer Sherrill (100), who doesn’t like visors or caps, and RaElla Smokstad (102) were the other two girls competing for South.

Carson, the last school to win the tournament before East started its current run of team titles, shot 319 and was a distant third, so it was a two-horse race. Ava Catlett’s 104 was the best score for the Cougars.

West Rowan posted a team score of 340. Marley Rimmer led the Falcons with a 108.

North Rowan had only one participant. Salisbury, which ruled the county in girls golf a decade ago, had none. Salisbury and North have not been able to post team scores in the Central Carolina Conference matches this year.

While girls golf  seems to have fallen off some, East’s winning score was not the highest ever recorded. October can be fickle weather-wise. Two years ago, the tournament was played at McCanless in chilling and wet conditions, and girls played in jackets and rain gear. Scores were very high that day. East co-champs Hannah Waddell and Addison Queen shot 91s.

There were some highlights on Thursday.

Boice got to see Maples jump for joy after making a birdie on 16, her biggest moment so far in a competitive setting.

Culbert, a junior, hit a drive that skipped across the water and just made it into the grass on No. 11.

“Sara has come a very long way,” Boice said. “She’s worked so hard at it and really wants to be good. Two years ago at McCanless, she shot 115 and was maxing on a lot of holes. She was actually sick this week, but she fought through it and did very well. She plays smart. She keeps it in play.”

Sara’s father, Kurt, serves as South’s assistant coach.

Senior captain Ava Blume didn’t have her best day for the Raiders, but finished fifth.

“She had a few rocky holes, but she also hit several great shots,” Boice said. “We know we can count on her every match.”

While the county tournament still means a lot, more important events are just around the corner for the golfers.

The South Piedmont Conference Tournament (18 holes) is coming up Monday at Rolling Hills. A powerful Lake Norman Charter team is just about certain to win, with East and South will be battling for second place.

After that will be the regional on a challenging course at Cramer Mountain Club in Cramerton. South and East hope to do well enough there to qualify players for the 3A state tournament.

“We’ll cheer for the South girls, and they’ll cheer for us,” Merrell said. “There are great girls on both teams and they like each other. We’ll have a blast.”