WESTFIELD
Center Grove senior golfer Lucy Young picked a great time for the round of her life.
Despite never playing the course before, Young shot a 4-under 67 Monday at Wood Wind Golf Club to capture medalist honors in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference golf tournament. Young helped the No. 15 Trojans to a second-place team finish with 339 strokes.
Fourth-ranked Carmel won with 303. Ben Davis placed third at 373.
Carmel’s Nina Hecht was second individually with a 73, followed by Greyhounds teammate Katie Kuc at 75.
“It was a great round,” Trojans first-year girls golf coach Cale Hoover said of Young. “She’s been even par more times than she can count, so she’s been waiting to get that breakthrough with the round under par.”
Young said it was definitely the best round she’s ever had, with the previous low being a 71 at Hickory Stick.
“I was hitting good approach shots and I got a couple of lucky breaks, too,” Young said. “There were a couple of putts I shouldn’t have missed, but other than that I can’t complain.”
Young birded two of the first three holes before giving a shot back with a three-putt bogey.
“Then it started getting exciting,” Hoover said.
Young hit in the water and dropped the ball for an 80-yard wedge shot that she holed out to save par.
Hoover said the momentum from that really carried through.
“When you clear the field by six strokes in 18 holes, that’s pretty impressive,” Hoover said. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer kid.”
Young also had was she believed was her first eagle in competition on the par-5 sixth hole.
Young described her season as up and down so far.
“I had a rough day in the county (tournament) last week, but it’s been better since then,” she said.
Hoover is hoping Young, his only senior, finishes her prep career strong.
“She’s a pretty special kid, a great student,” Hoover said. “She got a tough decision. She has a college decision narrowed down to two (Grace College and Taylor University). Whoever gets her is going to love her.”
Meg Fosnot added an 86 for the Trojans, while Maddie Heineman and Lauren Pagel each shot 93.
“We’ve been in a tough stretch (schedule-wise),” Hoover said. “We’ve got a couple kids who are not quite 100 percent dealing with a little bit of illness. I’m proud of the way we battled through that stretch. We’re looking forward to practicing a little bit, trying to get a little healthier and then make that stretch run.”
