Center Grove’s Madisyn Bell watches her tee shot on the 18th hole during the Johnson County tournament on Thursday.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
When a team’s fifth golfer finds a way to knock nine strokes from her previous best score, it usually paints a rather bleak picture for the opposition.
Thanks to Madisyn Bell, the annual Johnson County tournament penned such a scenario.
The Center Grove sophomore fired a 73 at The Legends Golf Club on Thursday to lead her squad to collective score of 300, which bested host and runner-up Franklin by 17 strokes.
Coach Cale Hoover’s program has now claimed the last six county titles, the latest placing four of his five starters on the all-tournament team.
The story this time around was Bell being in a zone like never before.
“Madisyn’s talent has never been in doubt. She does score really well from time to time,” Hoover said. “The key for her is her iron play. When she’s on and hitting greens, she scores well. She played with tremendous confidence today.”
The Grizzly Cubs, led by the 72 of junior individual medalist Addi Bright, was the only team to apply any pressure to Center Grove with a 317. Greenwood Christian was a distant third with a 419 total, followed by Indian Creek (453) and Whiteland (475). Edinburgh and Greenwood did not have enough golfers to post team scores.
Bell’s previous best this season was an 85. Her lowest of scores was an 82 carded last season.
“I was able to get up and down a lot, which helped me out,” Bell said. “My short game and my chipping, I was able to get it close to the hole.”
Three other Center Grove players earned all-tourney status — Magnolia Miller and London Dodson both shot 75, and Amanda Wallace a 77. Zoe Land, the Trojans’ No. 4, finished with an 88.
County marked only the second time in the lineup this season for Miller, who was in an automobile accident earlier this month and sat out five of the Trojans’ prior events due to soreness in her body.
“It feels really good. I feel proud of myself. … All the work I’ve put in when I’m not playing has been paying off,” Miller said. “I think today for me, it was just hitting greens. I didn’t have any birdies, so hitting greens helped me two-putt for pars.”
Besides Bright shooting even par, Franklin’s Reese Phillips finished with a 77, tying her with Wallace for fifth individually. Next was Lexi Ray with an 80, Cass Rucker’s 88 and a 95 from Mia Hart.
Other scores of note in Thursday’s searing heat were produced by GCA’s duo of Makynlee Conn and Morgan Brandt with respective scores of 96 and 97, Emily Hogue of Indian Creek with a 99 and GCA’s Addie Yeats shooting a 104.
Macie Blandford of Edinburgh shot 106, as did Indian Creek’s Shelby Roach.
“I mean, our kids knew it was hot, but they came here with a job to do and were focused on that,” Hoover said. “That’s our best score of the year by about 30. We haven’t had Magnolia much, so that obviously makes a difference.”
As the day wore on and temperatures continued to climb, more and more umbrellas were used to provide some much-needed shade.
Bright, who admits to being superstitious, left hers alone after starting off strong.
“I started out even par through eight, and birdied No. 9 to get going on the back nine with a good start,” Bright said. “I bogeyed 11, so I felt as though that was kind of a bad bogey, but I bounced back quickly.
“I was very happy with the way I finished considering I took some bad breaks on 17 and 18. The heat doesn’t really bother me. I didn’t start with my umbrella up, so I couldn’t put it up.”
