CARMEL — The Zionsville girls golf team all bought identical Eagle club head covers ahead of sectionals this year to bring the team even closer together. And as she stepped to the first tee at the sectional meet, Taylor Snively decided to give hers a name: Larry.
Turns out the freshman is a bit of a trend setter.
In solidarity with Snively, her teammates followed suit and named their club head covers. “Cherry, Jerry, Barry, Harry — we got all the -arry’s out there,” Snively laughed Friday afternoon.
‘It’s truly surreal.’ Carmel senior sinks hole-in-one in girls golf state finals
Maybe it’s the similarly named eagle head covers, maybe it’s something else — no, it’s definitely the club head covers — but the tight-knit Zionsville squad is loose and upbeat, and it translated to success in the first round of the IHSAA girls golf state finals Friday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. The Eagles posted a team score of +27, five strokes back of Noblesville for the lead.
“(Today) was a lot of fun,” Snively smiled. “I was just trying to get out there and have fun. I definitely achieved that.”
Snively’s best shot of the day came on par-5 18th when she stuck her third shot within a few feet of the pin, drawing a raucous reaction from her teammates who were gathered beside the green — and from her coach, who was filming the shot from off to the side.
Snively drew another charge from the crowd when she tapped in for birdie to close out the first round tied for first, and walked off the green to chants of “She’s a freshman!” from her teammates.
“I hit a great layup,” she smiled. “I didn’t really have a number I liked in my hand down there (54-degree wedge) and I honestly didn’t hit it great, but it ended up OK. It was just a lot of fun.”
Snively’s second birdie of the day capped off a steady, workman-like round. She birdied No. 3 and was bogey-free until No. 13, maintaining her place atop the leaderboard through most of the round. The freshman dropped another shot with her second bogey on the par-3 15th, but closed her round with two pars and the aforementioned birdie.
“I just tried to hit as many fairways and greens (as I could), tried to keep the ball in play, let the putts fall and see what happens,” Snively said. “There’s not a lot of drivers out here, so you just have to put it in the right spots and don’t leave yourself hard chip shots.”
Snively’s reputation preceded her entering her freshman year. She tied for 21st at the Indiana State Junior Championship, shooting a three-day score of 240 with 10 pars, and led the first round of the Circle K Junior Championship in June (finished third, five strokes off the lead).
The spotlight has been on her from day one and only intensified with the start of this weekend’s finale, but Snively’s largely unfazed.
“There’s a lot of attention, but it’s still just golf at the end of the day,” said Snively, who will tee off at 10:50 a.m. Saturday. “I played in a lot of big tournaments over the summer and got used to final groups, having to play well the first day and finishing it off the second day, so I’m just trying to embrace it.”
Birdie streak vaults Addi Kooi to the top
Addi Kooi was not very happy heading to No. 16. A bogey on No. 14 — her fourth of the day — left the Westfield senior at 3-over and hovering around the top-5-10 on the leaderboard.
Just grind it out, coach Josh Bryant told her. “Let the hole get in the way.”
Carmel’s Sophie Mock had the shot of the day with her ace on No. 12, but Kooi had the best finish, stringing together three straight birdies to finish her round at even (72). She was a stroke off the lead when the Westfield bus pulled out of the Prairie View parking lot. She’ll be tied for first when it returns Saturday morning.
“I started draining putts, stuck a couple wedges close and it just worked out,” Kooi said, adding with a laugh: “I needed those. It was a good time for that.”
Kooi’s round turned on No. 16.
Playing from the bunker with a terrible lie, the senior escaped and stuck her next shot on the green with what she described as “probably the best little pitching wedge … I’ve ever hit in my life.”
“I hadn’t made a putt all day and I finally made one (for birdie). That kinda started it,” Kooi smiled. “Then I had my favorite club into No. 17, stuck it and made the putt. And I had my favorite club into No. 18, so it was kinda some good luck along the way, but it was fun. It was good.”
That’s how rounds have gone for Kooi this year, with a good shot or two giving way to a deluge of positivity.
It’s just a matter of minimizing damage on the front for the self-described slow starter.
“I have to work on that,” Kooi said of her sluggish performances on the front nine. She was 2-over at the turn Friday. “But I’ve been finishing rounds really well, so hopefully Saturday we can start well and well.”
Glitter!
Among the more memorable sights during Friday’s event was a bearded gentleman with a well-glittered beard.
That gentleman is an assistant coach for the Northridge golf team and he initially agreed to carve a dragon into his facial fur if the Raiders made it to state. Unfortunately, he has some meetings next week and had to renege on that part of the deal. The girls tried talking him into dying his beard blue, but, again, meetings next week, so they instead compromised on glittering the beard instead.
The glitter-beard was apparently very popular among the parents and spectators, with a few commenting they should have their daughters’ coach do that for Saturday. The Northridge assistant offered them some green-and-gold glitter so they could all jump on the Raiders bandwagon, but they politely declined.
IHSAA girls golf state finals notes
∎ Paige Giovenco of Floyd Central rounds out the three-way tie atop the leaderboard. She carded two birdies and two bogeys to end her round at even par.
∎ Among the local golfers still in the hunt: Center Grove senior Magnolia Miller (+2), Noblesville juniors Josie Kelley (+3) and Presley White (+4), Mock, Westfield junior Kelsey Haverluck (+4) and Franklin junior Lexi Ray (+5).
∎ It’s an all-Central Indiana top-5 in the team standings with Noblesville and Zionsville followed by Westfield, Hamilton Southeastern and Franklin. Center Grove and Carmel are seventh and eighth, respectively.
2024 IHSAA GIRLS GOLF STATE FINALS DAY 1 RESULTS, SCORES
First round, Prairie View Golf Club (Carmel), Par 72
Team scores: 1. Noblesville — 310; 2. Zionsville — 315; 3. Westfield — 326; 4. Hamilton Southeastern — 327; 5. Franklin — 328; 6. Batesvile — 332; 7. Center Grove — 341; 8. Carmel — 344; 9. South Bend Saint Joseph — 347; 10. Castle — 353; 11. Rochester — 356; t-12. DeKalb, Northridge, Homestead — 365; 15. Bedford North Lawrence, 368; 16. Lake Central — 373; 17. New Palestine — 378; 18. Evansville Memorial — 412.
Top 15: T1. Paige Giovenco, Floyd Central — 72; T1. Addi Kooi, Westfield — 72; T1. Taylor Snively, Zionsville — 72; T4. Abbey Peterson, Warsaw Community — 74; T4. Rowan Pies, East Central — 74; T4. Magnolia Miller, Center Grove — 74; T4. Ava South, Batesville — 74; T8. Daisy Williams, Maconaquah — 75; T8. Josie Kelley, Noblesville — 75; T10. Presley White, Noblesville — 76; T10. Addison Meadows, Southmount — 76; T10. Kelsey Haverluck, Westfield — 76; T10. Sophie Mock, Carmel — 76; T10. Marley Dunham, South Bend Saint Joseph — 76; T15. Sophie Richmond, NorthWood — 77; T15. Alex Reschly, Northridge — 77; T15. Ashley Kirkland, Castle — 77; T15. Lexi Ray, Franklin — 77.
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school girls golf state finals Day 1 results, scores
