Fort Recovery girls golf falls to Starfires

GENEVA — Brynn Stammen’s score didn’t count toward the Indians’ total on Monday.

She made sure that changed Tuesday night.

Stammen led Fort Recovery High School’s girls golf team in scoring in Tuesday’s 10-stroke loss to South Adams at Wabash Valley Golf Club.

Stammen improved her score by eight strokes to shoot a 52 and led the Indians (0-1) to a team score of 222. South Adam’s No. 4 golfer, Addy Hinton, led the Starfires with a score of 50 en route to a 212 team score.

“(Stammen) played really well today,” FRHS assistant coach Jeff Vaughn said. “I know she had (some) triples on her card, so to come back and shoot a 52 is great … I’m glad to see that out of her and we’ll need that.”

Stammen started the match strong, parring her first two holes, which were the 370-yard, par-5 second hole and the 132-yard, par-3 third.

“The par five, I actually got par on that, which felt pretty good because that's not usual for me,” Stammen said. “(On the third,) I got a decent chip on the green and I could one-putt it, so one-putting it helps a lot whenever you can get it on and close to the hole.”

She suffered her first triple-bogey of the day on hole No. 4 and followed it up with a double bogey.

FRHS senior Brynn Stammen hits her iron on the 258-yard, par 4 seventh hole at Wabash Valley Golf Club during the Indians match against South Adams. Stammen shot a team-best 52 in the match, but Fort Recovery fell to the Starfires 212-222 in the contest. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Things didn’t look great to start the sixth hole.

As she teed off on the 303-yard, par 4, her ball went left directly toward the water. However, her drive was low and hard enough that her ball skipped off of the water and rolled into the rough just left of the fairway.

Crisis averted.

“My ball bounced off the water and, honestly, I was just hoping it would all work out and it did,” Stammen said.

She hit an iron to put the ball just 5 yards short of the green. Stammen chipped her ball about 8 feet short of the pin, left one putt short and tapped her ball in to save a bogey on the hole.

Stammen triple bogeyed the next two holes before recording her final bogey of the day on the ninth hole. She finished her round with a fourth triple-bogey on hole No. 1.

Fighting through tough weather conditions Monday morning was a challenge for Stammen. Having a short memory helped her improve Tuesday.

“I just feel like you have to take it one hole at a time,” Stammen said. “Even if you have a bad hole, you have to continue on from that and just forget about that hole and just play the next hole like it's brand new.”

The Indians’ next best score came from No. 1 golfer Emma Will with a 55.

Will also had a strong start to the match, recording bogeys on the second and third holes. She also had a bogey on No. 7.

Vaughn noticed Will, as well as some of the other girls, struggling in the short game during the match.

“I know everybody wants to hit a driver now but you're gonna score around the green with your short game,” Vaughn said. “Just to eliminate those three- and four-putts …

“Just cut down on your pots and the little things will lower those scores.”

Vaughn also saw positive flashes during the match, despite being at a course with more obstacles. One specific thing he pointed to was Ella Schoen’s driving. On the seventh hole, Schoen drove her ball 250 yards, landing about 20 yards short of the green.

Schoen ended the day with the Indians’ final qualifying score at 58, just one stroke lower than Eva Kahlig’s 59.

Ella Westgerdes finished in the middle of the Fort Recovery golfers with a 57. A trio of holes on which she double-parred held her back in the round, but a par on the 255-yard, par 4 first hole and a bogey on No. 7 helped make up for it.

Her drive on the seventh had good distance but flew right of the cart path. Her second shot advanced her forward another 75 yards. She found some luck on her third shot as her ball lasered over the bunker and, slowed by the sand, rolled to the front of the green. A chip that came up short of the cup left her in prime position to convert her putt for bogey.

Overall, Vaughn was happy with the girls’ performance.

“Our scores weren't great, but overall, we didn't have any scores in the 60s,” Vaughn said. “We've just got to keep working at it.”