Shaving strokes and heads

GENEVA — The hair on coach Jeff Vaughn’s head will live to see another day.

While the Indians didn’t score low enough to force their coach to shave his head, they did play well enough to take down the Starfires.

Fort Recovery High School’s girls golf team shot well enough to stay under 200 strokes for the second day in a row Tuesday as they beat the South Adams Starfires 199-212 at Wabash Valley Golf Club.

“Anytime we can get a W, we’ll be happy,” Vaughn said. “We shot under 200 again. Anytime we get under 200 I’m happy.”

The Indians’ victory over South Adams comes just one day after they shot a 197 to beat Marion Local in the Midwest Athletic Conference opener. The sub-200 stroke scores are also less than 10 strokes away from a bet Vaughn made with his team saying that if they shoot in the 180s, they get to shave his head and bleach what’s left.

“Two weeks ago, the girls said ‘Well coach, if we shoot in the 180s can we shave your head and bleach it?’” Vaughn recounted. “At that point I thought ‘yeah sure.’ Then we shoot a 197 and a 199.

“Our first match we shot a 223 and I was disappointed and ever since then it seems like they turned it up a notch. … If they keep getting improvement and consistently (score) in the mid 40s, that under 190 is definitely possible.”

The two golfers that provided a significant push for Fort Recovery (3-2) were Emma Will and Olivia Knapke.

Will started the 2023 season a lot slower, resulting in the senior shooting a 55 when she made the trip to Geneva. She not only improved her score by nearly 10 strokes, but also claimed match medalist honors with her round of 47 Tuesday.

“Honestly I’m kind of shocked (by the hot start), because I did not practice at all before the season started,” Will admitted. “I think it’s just a matter of not thinking too hard about it like I usually do.”

Just like the season overall, Will got off to a hot start in the match, making par on the first hole – she started on No. 2 – and bogeys on the third and fourth before making par on the sixth and seventh as well.

Her par on the 370-yard, par-5 second hole started with a drive down the middle of the fairway, 175 yards from the green. Her second shot took her to the rough on the right side before a third landed her on the fringe 25 feet from the hole. One putt came up 10 inches short of a birdie before the second sealed par.

Will mentioned drives like the ones on that hole played a large role in her success.

“I just kept everything straight,” Will said. “That was a big thing. I just stayed out of the trees for the most part which definitely helps on this course.”

Knapke finished just one stroke behind Will with a 58. The junior had two pars and three bogeys to fuel her round. South Adams’ top golfer, Julia Arnold, finished one stroke behind Knapke with a 49.

FRHS junior Olivia Knapke reacts to her ball rolling toward the fourth hole at Wabash Valley Golf Club on Tuesday. Her chip hit the pin and rolled over the hole without going in, setting up a tap in for par. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

The third score came from Mallory Evers, who had a strong stretch from hole No. 2 to 6, with a par and four bogeys en route to a 50.

The final score came from Georgia Wenning out of the No. 5 position with a 54. Wenning has now scored in all five of the Indians’ matches this season out of the fifth spot.

“I feel like it’s just easier because the girls are more laid back,” Wenning said. “I think the higher you get the more it gets to my head.

“I’ve just gotten the hang of it more throughout the season.”

 Wenning’s highlight was a par on the second hole, preceded by a bogey on the 255-yard, par-4 first hole.

Eva Kahlig’s round of 57 did not affect the team score.

Vaughn in particular is pleased with the balance of the lineup, and the ability for each girl to produce an important score on any given day.

“That’s awesome, because that’s, last year, what we were missing,” Vaughn said. “I kept telling them, we need to have some consistency where we’re not taking a 58. … To have that consistency, that you can throw another girl’s score out that you’re thinking you’re probably going to use is huge.”

Junior varsity

The Indians’ JV team also took down the Starfires 239-262.

Both Evvie Briner and Rylee Bubp both shot the low of 57 in the match. Briner shot a bogey on the first hole, while Bubp made a pair on the fourth and sixth holes.

Emily Boeckman earned a 61, while Liza Knapke shot a 64 to tie South Adams’ leading scorer, Sophia Orr.