Columbus East senior Harley Gant and her sister Carter have a little wager going on to see who can finish ahead of the other the most times.
By Carter’s count, she is one ahead of Harley after edging her by a stroke for medalist honors in Tuesday’s dual match against Jennings County at Otter Creek. Carter shot 40, and Harley had a 41 in the Olympians’ 170-207 victory.
“The deal is, when I win, she has to pay me $5, but if she wins, then I have to pay her $5,” Carter said. “So that’s kid of a competition that we have.”
Both Gants have been putting up some formidable scores. Harley has shot 76 and 75 in her two most recent 18-hole rounds, and Carter has three consecutive 40s in nine-hole matches.
Saturday, the Gants, along with senior Peyton Meier, led East to their best score in several years, a 325, to win the 21-team Washington Invitational on the Country Oaks course that hosts the regional.
“I’m really proud of us as a team,” Carter Gant said. “Our hard work is definitely paying off. You just have to come back from bad shots and go along with it and just give your full effort.”
Meier carded a 43 on Tuesday, while Katie Hong rounded out East’s scoring with a 46. Lilly Steinwedel added a 53.
“Consistency is going to be the key,” East coach Kylie Weichman said. “We’re still leaving some strokes out there, especially on the putting green. We have to get that a little bit better, two putts per green, and if we do that, our scores are going to just continue to drop. So overall, the consistency piece is the most important part, but we need to improve our putting.”
Sophia Curry led the Panthers with a 41. Alexis Carson carded a 46, Lauren Galvan added a 58, Emma Jones shot 62 and Emma Kirchner had a 65.
“It was very hot, and I think for the conditions, we did OK,” Jennings coach Alejandro Galvan said. “Sophia played pretty good. She should be happy with her 41.”
The Panthers’ 207 team total was a little off the 194 they put up in their season opener.
“We started off way better,” Alejandro Galvan said. “We just fell back a little bit. We have to work on our short game and work on making a little better contact.”
Jennings hosts No. 19 Columbus North today at St. Anne’s. North and East will play in the East Invitational Saturday afternoon at Otter Creek.
“We are really excited about that,” Weichman said. “I feel like we have a very solid chance to put up a good score with it being on our home course. We played the North (Monday), and we’re going to have a practice round on the West this week, so we feel good about that. As long as our girls just keep powering through the difficult holes, I think that we’ll put up some good scores. Our mental toughness this year has really improved since last year.”
