By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

CRAMERTON — Cramer Mountain Club is only 16 miles west of Charlotte, but it looks like something that Daniel Boone might have explored, like something carved right out of the wilderness.

South Piedmont Conference female golfers got to view that wonderful landscape during Monday’s 3A West Regional. They experienced mountains, woods, water and bunkers, plus dramatic elevation changes that the girls don’t deal with during the regular season.

Girls who normally shoot 76 carded 91s and girls who normally shoot 91s shot 106. Girls who normally shoot 106 were picking up their ball on virtually every hole with a merciful triple bogey limit.

East girls golf coach Tinsley Merrell knew Cramer Mountain would be an unusually challenging regional venue. After a practice round there she was even more certain it would be a tough time. She knew that breaking 100 would put a girl in the state tournament.

“This course is a beast, it’s brutal, but we talked about grinding it out and being tough mentally and physically for 18 holes,” Merrell said. “We knew it was going to be a very long day of golf. But we’ve got a good group of girls and I knew they had in them to handle the challenge and do well.”

The Mustangs came through the ordeal about as well as they possibly could have. They shot 293 and finished sixth in the team scoring. Only the top three teams — Tuscola, South Point and Lake Norman Charter — were automatic state qualifiers, but after the girls on those three teams were removed from the mix, the next 17 scorers qualified for the state event as individuals.

East had three of those 17, so the Mustangs will have the required number of golfers to compete and post a team score in the upcoming 3A State Championships at Longleaf Golf & Family Club in Southern Pines. That was a huge accomplishment.

Cailey Ludwig shot 96 and tied for 17th to lead the Mustangs. County champ Kaley Pfister shot 97 and tied for 19th. Jaelyn Earnhardt was the third Mustang to make the cut. She shot an even 100 and tied for 24th.

“Putting was a challenge,” Merrell said. “Greens were lightning fast. They were slicker than what we’re used to.”

South Rowan tied for eighth at 311. South’s Ava Blume shot 97 and was part of the tie for 19th. She qualified for the state tournament as an individual. Blume made the turn at 47 and held it together on the back.

Ludwig was the big surprise and was the key to East’s successful day, as she was the fourth Mustang to tee off, 30 minutes after Pfister. Ludwig is East’s No. 4 most days, but she enjoyed the finest day of her brief golfing life and led the team for the first time.

“The amazing thing was Cailey couldn’t make our practice round,” Merrell said. “So she was playing the course for the first time, playing it blind. Fortunately, she was in a very nice group. A girl from West Henderson was giving her advice, telling her where she needed to hit her drives. Cailey has been getting better and better year all season, and she’s capable, but it was remarkable to see her play as well as she did on a course this tough. She didn’t play nervous. She didn’t feel burdened by any expectations. She just went out and played carefree and hit some great golf shots.”

The best scores of the round were 79s turned in by Hibriten’s Trinity White and Tuscola’s McKenna Williams.

Lake Norman Charter’s Caitlyn Frisch, the SPC Player of the Year, shot 87 to lead the Knights to third place. Robinson (Ava Mason) and Northwest Cabarrus (Carson Verburg) had individual qualifiers.

Other Rowan scores were posted by South’s Sara Culbert (106), South’s Margo Maples (108), East’s Izzy Stepp (110), South’s RaElla Smokstad (113), Carson’s Ava Catlett (115), East’s Ava Alderman (118), West’s Marly Rimmer (119), Carson’s Emma Carpenter (124) and Carson’s Miley Benfield (125).

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THOMASVILLE — In Monday’s 1A/2A Central Regional played at Colonial, Salisbury’s Xaniyah Price shot 104. North Rowan’s Nellie Brewer shot 118.

Gray Stone’s Hannah Lineberry shot 84 and tied for eighth place. Grace Burris shot 95.

East Surry, Union Academy and Providence Grove were the top teams.