As the old adage goes, you can’t win a golf tournament on the first day, but you can lose it.
Center Grove’s girls at least have that part behind them.
The No. 3 Trojans, in search of their first state championship, lead the pack at the halfway point of this weekend’s state finals, which conclude today at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. They finished day one with a 32-over-par 320, three shots ahead of rival Carmel, the state’s top-ranked team.
Castle and Culver Academies lurk eight shots off the pace at +40, with Batesville and Homestead at +41.
The conditions — hard ground, fast greens and windy — made scoring difficult, but the Trojans managed to avoid big trouble better than anyone else, with only six holes of double bogey or worse among them.
“If you told me we could shoot 320 and have a three-shot lead, I’d have laughed at you,” Center Grove coach Cale Hoover said. “We managed it well. When we did have one of those holes, we bounced back.”
As has been the case throughout the postseason, senior Sage Parsetich led the way for Center Grove on Friday. She bogeyed the first two holes but settled down with a birdie on No. 3 and played the next 13 holes at 1 over par. Even after finishing with bogeys on 17 and 18, Parsetich ended up with a 4-over 76, good for third on the individual leaderboard.
Juniors Abby Rich and Camille Short each carded a 9-over 81 for the Trojans, while Rowen Pfeifle rounded out the team scoring with an 82.
Center Grove will play in the final five groups today with Carmel and Castle, with the first threesome teeing off at 10:18 a.m.
The other Johnson County player in the field, Franklin freshman Lexi Ray, joined Rich and Short in a tie for 18th place at 81. Ray, going off the back nine first, opened with a double-bogey six on the 10th hole and bogeyed four more holes over her first seven. She settled down from there, playing her last 11 holes at 3 over par.
Ray will be in the first group teeing off today at 8:30 a.m.
Only 10 players shot under 80 on the difficult Prairie View layout. About the only player to truly conquer it was Columbus North freshman Ava Bunker. The Edinburgh resident had five birdies on her way to a 3-under 69, good for a five-stroke lead individually.
Like Bunker, Center Grove will be trying to nail down a title this afternoon. It’s far from a done deal, but the Trojans did what they had to do on the first half of the mission.
“We put ourselves in position, and that’s all you can do on day one,” Hoover said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
