By RYAN WALKER
DECATUR — All the Bluffton Tigers did was come away with the ACAC girls’ golf championship, individual awards and school records.
Saturday’s ACAC conference meet at Cross Creek was nothing but a success for Bluffton, and its counterpart in the county, Southern Wells, also had a great day on the course.
The Tigers won the meet for the second straight season, hitting a 391, the school’s record for 18 holes. As individuals, the Tigers had four earn all-conference honors: Emma Schwartz first-team, and the trio of Piper Morgan, Eve Corkwell and Addison Kauffman earned second-team.
Southern Wells comes in third place with a score of 400, just one stroke behind second-place South Adams. The Raiders though had the top golfer in the county with Sophie Meeks’ third overall finish at 90, earning first-team all-conference with teammate Kolbie Beavans, finishing fifth with a 92.
The win for the Tigers was a total team effort, leaning on their No. 1 in Schwartz to lead, but it was the rest of the group that stepped up in the right moment.
Bluffton’s No. 3 and No. 5 golfers in the lineup, Morgan and Kauffman, took the event by storm. Morgan shot a 98 and Kauffman a 101, both improving their scores from the beginning of the season when they played Cross Creek at the Bellmont Invitational.
Morgan improved by eight strokes, and Kauffman by 19. Eve Corkwell even shredded 10 strokes off of her game in the No. 2 spot.
“I told the girls during practice this past week that if we won ACAC again it would be because we were mentally tough through adversity,” Bluffton head coach Tara Cocanower said. “Piper and Addi really bought into focusing on the next shot being the most important one today. Piper put some work into putting drills going into ACAC and watching her on the greens showed that it paid off. Addi is so strong and her ball-striking was great. Having two sophomores step up like that today reminded me of Eve and Emma last year.”
The team’s efforts reflected on the history of Bluffton girls’ golf forever, and the Tigers needed it.
Even with a fourth-place finish, Cocanower admitted that Schwartz’s day was tough. The junior shot an 80 at the Bellmont Invitational compared to the 91 on Saturday.
Norwell had quite the Northeast 8 Conference girls’ golf meet on Saturday.
The team finished second overall with a team score of 362, behind DeKalb at 331, who won the conference title for the second straight year. The course was at Cross Creek in Decatur.
Ellie Gatton earned first-team all-NE8 and tied for first overall, losing the playoff round to Grace Pfiester of DeKalb to earn her second place officially. Her score of 80 gave her first-team all-conference.
Savanna Simerman followed Gatton with an 87, good for second-team. Jordyn Schroyer was honorable mention for the Knights at 92.
Results
Team scores
1.DeKalb 331, 2. Norwell (362), 3. Leo (368), 4. East Noble (377), 5. Huntington North (369), 6. Bellmont (423), 7. Columbia City (427) and 8. New Haven (496).
Norwell: Ellie Gatton (80, second overall), Savanna Simerman (87, ninth overall), Jordyn Schroyer (92, 12th overall), Jessica Bynum (103) and Emma Burnau (104).
