New London girls golf team adds another SEI Superconference title to its collection

WAPELLO — Just as sure as the weather turns warm in May, the New London High School girls golf team takes its game to another level.

Like a rite of spring, the Tigers are primed and ready to make another run for a berth in the state tournament.

The stretch run began Monday, and New London showed it once again is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

New London placed five of its golfers in the top 11 and ran away with the SEI Superconference Tournament on a hot, windy day at Heritage Oaks Golf Club.

Sophomore Taylor Phillips claimed medalist honors, carding an 82 to win by seven shots over Mediapolis sophomore Olivia Hines.

New London carded a 388 team total, a whopping 52 shots better than runner-up Louisa-Muscatine.

At New London, talent may graduate, but tradition lives on.

“The team did pretty good, too. They all played the best they could in the wind," Phillips said.

“It’s fun. I look forward to golf season because we always have a winning season. It’s fun to look forward to," said New London sophomore Sophie Malott, who finished third with a 96, one of just three players to shoot under 100 in the gusty winds.

“I guess I’m just lucky," New London head coach Greg Lerdal said. “What little practices we’ve had, they’ve worked hard. It’s just with the terrible weather we’ve had, we haven’t had much time to practice and the scores show it.”

Phillips had some competition early from Hines, whom Phillips figured would give her a run for medalist honors.

"I was a little nervous coming into today because I knew there was another girl who could stay close to me, but after about seven holes I felt okay," Phillips said. “I like playing with competition because it makes me more competitive and makes me want to make more putts. My chipping was good today. They popped and stoped on the green every single time.”

Hines kept it close, but an eight on hole No. 13 and a seven on 14 proved to be too much to overcome.

“I was even through 14 and then my putting just went downhill," said Hines, who helped Mediapolis finish third with a 453, six shots better than Highland. “It’s been pretty good. I feel like everyone has improved since last season. We’ve played good all around.”

Malott, like many others, had trouble adjusting to the wind. It forced the players to make adjustments on every shot.

“If the wind was in my face, I went up two clubs. If it was downwind, I would take off a couple clubs," Malott said.

“I missed the greens either short or left or right," Phillips said. "My drives were good today. I only had one bad drive. I just needed to hit more greens today. The wind kind of destroyed my distance today. Other than that it was all good.”

“It was pretty tough. It was hard to decide whether I wanted to be long or shot," Hines said. “It was really nice, except for the wind. It’s a lot better than 30-degree weather.”

New London senior Saige Barron carded a 104 to finish tied for sixth with Louisa-Muscatine junior Jersey Lessenger. Barron was the only senior to finish in the top 12.

Also for the Tigers, junior Emma Nye finished eighth with a 106, while freshman Emma Busby finished 11th with a 111. Freshman Stevey Wintermeyer tied for 43rd with a 142.

While most of the players struggled with the wind and the heat, neither seemed to affect Phillips.

“The heat didn’t really affect me because I played Saturday and Sunday out here. It wasn’t as hot, but it was still pretty hot," Phillips said. “I normally spend about an hour on my putting and about 30 minutes on my chipping. I play 18 holes almost every day.”

“Taylor is playing good golf right now. The wind isn’t going to affect her ball as much because she doesn’t hit it high like the rest of them. She played well today," Lerdal said.

With regionals coming up on Friday, the road to state gets under way in earnest. The Tigers looked prime to make another run for a spot at state.

“We’ll see. We’ll find out in the next couple weeks," Lerdal said.

Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA TODAY Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 31 years. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.

SEI Superconference Girls Tournament

Monday

At Heritage Oaks Golf Course

Yardage: 4,741; Par 72

Team scores

1. New London, 388; 2. Louisa-Muscatine, 440; 3. Mediapolis, 453; 4. Highland, 459; 5. Winfield-Mount Union, 474; 6. Wapello, 510; 7. Van Buren County, 527; 8. Central Lee, 619

Top 10 medalists

1. Taylor Phillips, New London, 82; 2. Olivia Hines, Mediapolis, 89; 3. Sophie Malott, New London, 96; 4. Madison Bieri, Louisa-Muscatine, 101; 5. Kelsi Carney, Highland, 102; 6. tie, Jersey Lessenger, Louisa-Muscatine and Saige Barron, New London, 104; 8. Emma Nye, New London, 106; 9. Alli Humphreys, W-MU, 111; 10. Kyley Wagler, Louisa-Muscatine, 112.

Area teams

Central Lee — Karissa Moeller, 130; Ellie Herdrich, 122; Sydney Gram, 157; Emma Harvey, 210.

Danville — Ava Smith, 133; Adrianna Prado, 122.

Holy Trinity — Brooke Mueller, 142; Laura Mehmert, 171.

Louisa-Muscatine — Madison Bieri, 101; Jersey Lessenger, 104; Jadyn Snyder, 128; Kyley Wagler, 112; Victoria Briggs, 123; Alyson Ziegenhorn, 125.

Mediapolis — Olivia Hines, 89; Cara Knoke, 117; Hannah Russell, 128; Cami Whitaker, 135; Taryn Miller, 119; Macy Woodruff, 141.

New London — Taylor Phillips, 82; Saige Barron, 104; Sophie Malott, 96; Emma Busby, 113; Emma Nye, 106; Stevey Wintermeyer, 144.

Notre Dame-West Burlington — Christianna Ziegler, 140; Macy Tripp, 168.

Van Buren County — Zoe Best, 134; Keely Duncan, 119; Jasmine Padget, 130; Georgia Padget, 144; Bailey Page, 149; Emma Charbonneau, 174.

Wapello — Liby Shafer, 129; Dakota Griffin, 130; Livia Fuller, 128; Olyvia Malone, 131; Bryn Wiley, 123; Zarahy Espinoza, 191.

Winfield-Mount Union — Ava Hagge, 129; Isabel Kann, 115; Alli Humphreys, 111; Afton Wilkerson, 119; Lily Freeman, 143; Chloe Fisher, 141.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: New London wins girls golf conference title by 52 strokes over L-M