Published: August 06, 2008 11:51 pm            

Eagles fail to soar in Kokomo Invitational

Will Willems

The Lebanon Reporter

After winning the nine-team Plainfield Invitational Monday, Zionsville girls golf head coach Jeff Anderson knew that the Kokomo Invitational would be more difficult Wednesday afternoon.

How difficult was the real question, and the first-year coach found things a little more difficult this time around. The No. 11 ranked Eagles shot a team score of 368 en route to finishing in the bottom half of the invite held at Chippendale Golf Club in Kokomo.

“It was a long, tough day,” Anderson said. “The course was very long and very narrow. There were a lot of out-of-bounds areas and hazards to deal with. They didn’t play as well as they are capable of but the course definitely helped cause that.”

All was not lost for the Eagles, however, as Anderson said he could use this as a learning experience for his young team. Many of the top teams in the state including the No. 1 team, Hamilton Southeastern, were in the field.

Anderson fielded a young line-up with two of his top three players being sophomores.

“The exposure to quality competition is something that will help us down the road,” Anderson said. “For the two sophomores (Ellen Hosking and MacKenzie Hoge) this was the first time they have played against Hamilton Southeastern or Western or Dekalb who played really well.”

Hosking led the Eagles in scoring despite being in the No. 2 spot, shooting an 86 on the par 72 course.

Senior Emily Dixon, who played in the No. 1 position, shot an 88 to finish second on the team.

“I am very pleased with Ellen,” Anderson said. “She was one shot off being the medalist on Monday in Plainfield and then today she was the medalist for our team. Being only a sophomore, I am really pleased with what she has done so far.”

Anderson added that he wasn’t concerned with Dixon’s higher than normal score and that it may be a change in her swing that is hampering her right now.

Every other spot besides the top two are open for competition.

“We had a couple of girls tweak their swings a little bit during the summer so they should be improving soon,” Anderson said. “I have full confidence that Emily will get her scores that she is used to getting. Then from three to 12th we have a bunch of girls shooting around the same so we have a lot of possibilities.”

The Eagles can test those possibilities when they compete Monday in the Twin Lakes Invitational.

“I expected a much better improved performance from today,” Anderson said. “If we perform the way we are capable we can place high.”

        

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