Columbus East’s Carter Gant watches her drive on No. 5 during a match against Columbus East Sept. 12, 2022, at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh. Tommy Walker/For The Republic
Half of the six local girls golf teams have new coaches this year, and all six of those area teams are battling low numbers.
Teams across the state were able to begin practice on Friday and matches today. Area teams don’t begin until Tuesday, when Jennings County visits Madison.
Here is a look at Columbus East, Columbus North and the other area teams heading into the 2023 season:
Columbus East
LaDonna VanDeventer takes over as the Olympians coach. Her husband Keith has been the boys head coach at East the past two years and will be her assistant for the girls team.
“I’m looking forward to it,” LaDonna VanDeventer said. “I’m really excited. It’s a great bunch of girls.”
Senior Carter Gant returns as the Olympians’ No. 1 golfer. Junior Grace LaSell also returns from a team that finished second in the Bloomington North Sectional.
“(Gant) has been doing pretty well,” LaDonna VanDeventer said. “She’s played in some summer tournaments, and Grace has been playing in some summer tournaments, too.”
Seniors Ali Trueblood and Dyana Foster were East’s Nos. 6 and 7 golfers. The Olympians also have a pair of junior newcomers in Sophia Begley and Allison Sharp.
“All of them have talent,” LaDonna VanDeventer said. “They all have pretty good abilities. My goal is to improve, make the team stronger, and hopefully, we can accomplish that and get out of sectional. We want to get stronger as a team.”
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs won Conference Indiana and Bloomington North Sectional titles last season, but will be without Ava Bunker, who took Indiana golf by storm last fall by winning state medalist honors as a freshman. Bunker is not playing high school golf this year.
Columbus North’s Erin Hopkins watches her putt on No. 7 during a match against Columbus East Sept. 12, 2022, at Timbergate Golf Course in Edinburgh. Tommy Walker/For The Republic
North does return its Nos. 2 and 3 golfers from last season in juniors Erin Hopkins and Lindsey Hartwell. Juniors Kara Buntin and Ana Pavlov will move up from the JV.
“I really look for Erin and Lindsey to step up and have really good years,” North coach Scott Seavers said. “I think Erin has a great shot to have a great year, and so does Linsdey. I’m hoping to see a lot of improvement from Kara and Ana.”
Freshman Harper Andresen in the lone newcomer.
“She’s relatively new, but she’s working at it,” Seavers said. “She’s athletic, and she’s picking it up pretty quickly.”
The Bull Dogs will be a young team with no seniors.
“It’s a little smaller group this year,” Seavers said. “We’re just looking to work hard and get better as the season goes on. We’re going to go through some growing pains this year, but our goal is just to try to get better every week. We have a lot of girls that don’t have a lot of varsity experience, so we have a lot of improving to do.”
Jennings County
The Panthers lost their top two golfers from a team that won the Madison Sectional, but will have the area’s largest team with seven.
Seniors Lauren Galvan and Rachael Manning and sophomore Shelby Davis were Jennings’ Nos. 3, 4 and 5 players. Sophomore Dakota Carr also played in some varsity matches.
The Panthers have three newcomers in freshmen Aslynn Hopkins, Amilia Gresham and Addison Petro.
“I feel like (the returners) have all gotten a little bit better,” Jennings coach Alejandro Galvan said. “Ashlynn played in middle school, and she can hit the ball. The other two are new to golf, but they’re both athletes and they’re starting to catch on.”
Brown County
The Eagles return three players from a team that finished ninth in the Bloomington North Sectional.
Junior Lilly VanNess was Brown County’s No. 1 golfer last season. Senior Savannah Poling and sophomore Chloe Poling also return.
“Those three have some experience,” Brown County coach Brad Baughman said. “From the other three, we just need to find a fourth score. We’re happy to have six. The neat thing is, we have every class represented.”
Sophomore Caitlin Seet was injured last season, and sophomore Maya Hernandez-Graham played in a couple of matches. They are joined by freshman Caitlynn Lookebill.
Edinburgh
The Lancers are coming off the Mid-Hoosier Conference title, but they lost five players and their coach. Jessica Carie, who was an assistant last year and has been an assistant boys golf coach the past four years, takes over the girls program from Doug Weddle.
The top two golfers return in senior Izzy Richardson and junior Macie Blandford. Richardson lost in a playoff to advance to last year’s regional as an individual.
Sophomore Bella Turner is the only other returner. Freshman Sophia Pace gives Edinburgh a fourth golfer, but as of now, that is all the players the Lancers have.
“I think Izzy and Macie and definitely should make All-Conference this year,” Carie said. “Bella played last year, but Sophia is starting brand new. But I think within our conference, we can still definitely compete because everybody else is about our skill level.”
Trinity Lutheran
Kylie Weichman, who has been the coach at East the past few years, takes over the Trinity program.
Senior Allie Shockey was the Cougars’ lone golfer last season. She will be joined by one other girl this year, freshman Kenzie Pumphrey.
“It’s kind of starting from the ground up,” Weichman said. “The biggest key for us this year is to learn and get better as we go along and have fun.”
The 2023 girls golf schedules for Columbus schools:
Columbus East
Wednesday;at Seymour Invitational;9 a.m.
Thursday;Whiteland/Greenfield-Central;5 p.m.
Saturday;at Greensburg Invitational;9 a.m.
Aug. 7;Batesville;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 8;Jennings County;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 12;at Franklin Invitational;1 p.m.
Aug. 14;at Seymour;4:15 p.m.
Aug. 16;Greenwood;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 21;at Martinsville (with Franklin);5 p.m.
Aug. 23;at Madison;5 p.m.
Aug. 26;East Invitational;1:30 p.m.
Aug. 28;Seymour;4:15 p.m.
Aug. 31;Shelbyville;5 p.m.
Sept. 11;HHC Tournament;9 a.m.
Sept. 12;Columbus North;4:15 p.m.
Columbus North
Aug. 7;Perry Meridian;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 9;Jennings County;4 p.m.
Aug. 12;at Franklin Invitational;1 p.m.
Aug. 14;at Greenwood;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 15;at Batesville;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 17;Roncalli;4:30 p.m.
Aug. 19;at Center Grove Trojan Classic;1 p.m.
Aug. 21;at Bloomington North;4:45 p.m.
Aug. 22;Seymour;4:45 p.m.
Aug. 30;Southport;4 p.m.
Sept. 5;at Franklin (with Center Grove);4 p.m.
Sept. 9;at Bloomington North Invitational;9 a.m.
Sept. 11;Conference Indiana at Timbergate;9 a.m.
Sept. 12;at Columbus East;4:15 p.m.
