Castle, Reitz advance to IHSAA high school girls golf state finals
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TERRE HAUTE — Two teams and three individuals from Southwestern Indiana advanced to the IHSAA high school girls golf state finals.
Castle shot a 322 to win the regional championship at Hulman Links on Friday, Sept. 25. The Knights, ranked sixth in the final coaches poll, have won three regional titles since 2022. The top three teams, plus three individuals from non-advancing teams, advanced to the IHSAA State Finals next week at Battle Ground near Lafayette.
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The Knights had three of the top five individual scores. Freshman Layna Patel won a playoff to earn medalist honors.
"These are hard to come by," Castle assistant coach Luke Richison said. "I'm really proud of the team effort. The thought before we started was each individual had to do their part for the team. It's not about chasing an individual number."
The Knights' depth enabled them to reclaim the regional crown after finishing second last year to Bedford North Lawrence. Layna Patel and Deeya Patel continued a strong stretch with a pair of 79s to force a playoff. Layna Patel defeated her sister with a birdie on the first extra hole for the individual title.
Abby Webb came in clutch with an 81, tied for fourth overall, from the No. 4 spot in the lineup. Kate Edwards rounded out scoring with an 83, while Lucy Jackson posted an 88. Richison estimated the team only had played Hulman Links once or twice prior to the regional – Country Oaks, the typcial host, had to fix several damaged greens.
"Two weeks in a row of career best to par," Richison said of Webb. "She's definitely peaking at the right time. Nobody was perfect. We had some doubles, triples and quads. Everyone fought through it and posted some really good numbers at the end. They knew the layout but didn't know the extact tees. It makes a difference on several holes."
Reitz took second at 363 to earn another spot at Battle Ground. The Panthers were the regional runner-up via a fifth score tiebreaker over Bedford North Lawrence — Kendall Martin shot a 102 to beat a 121. It will be the Panthers' first state finals apperance as a team in program history (Reitz had an individual make it from 2008-10).
Maddy Yellig led the lineup with an 88, followed by Bristol Head (89), Gracyn Butto (91) and Atley Osborne (95).
Southwestern Indiana also claimed every individual advancing spots from non-advancing teams.
Libby Reese shot an 82 to become the first Mount Vernon player since 2007 to earn a trip to the state finals. Lydia Aldridge carded an 83 to become the first Boonville representative since 2006. Lauren Knepp of Barr-Reeve took the final spot with an 87. The senior defeated Maggie Rhymer of Memorial in a two-hole playoff.
Mater Dei's Kylie Kratochvil, Pike Central's Kady Gideon and Paoli's Camley Whitfield missed the playoff by one shot.
The rest of the team leaderboard was Barr-Reeve 375, North 377, Boonville 380, Seymour 392, Jasper 403, Washington 409, Terre Haute South 416, Pike Central 430, Gibson Southern 434, Northview 443, West Vigo 472 and West Washington 477.
Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Castle, Reitz advance to IHSAA high school girls golf state finals