Maconaquah Schools

At the start of the season five weeks ago, the Lady Braves struggled in their opening match and shot a team total 239 in a 43 stroke loss versus the Kokomo Wildkats. Thursday night at Leaning Tree the Lady Braves shot a season best 200 to finish second in the four team invitational. Tippecanone Valley won with a score of 194, with North Miami third at 205 and Kokomo fourth at 211. Leading the Lady Braves was Junior Aubrey Stoll with a 41. Aubrey, as usual, struck the ball well from tee to green, but some putter mishaps cost her some strokes. She three putted both the 3rd and 7th holes as the Leaning Tree greens were running fast. Aubrey ended her round with a tremendous up and down on the 9th hold to save her par. Her score of 41 earned her second place overall. Junior Delaney Duke displayed tremendous fortitude as she shot the Braves second best score of 51. Delaney has been fighting her swing a bit and it has been causing some errant shots. On this evening, Delaney was able to recover from those errant shots by playing smart second shots. Delaney also showed the kind of power she had as she drove the ball with-in 35 yards of the green on multiple par four holes (4, 5, and 6). Sophomore Delaney Farnham has shown tremendous talent for the game since starting last season. Thursday night she that talent started to show some consistency as she shot a career best 53. Delaney played steady golf, hitting it well off the tee and hitting approaches near or on the green. Delaney’s 53 was a one shot improvement over her previous personal best. Senior Jade Christopher made sure her last match in Miami County was a memorable one. Jade, who had never shot below 60 previously, shattered that barrier by carding a 55 on Thursday night. Jade played well, hitting fairways off the tee followed up by well struck approach shots. Jade, who had been working on her putting, putted extremely well, routinely two putting the deceptively sloopy and fast Leaning Tree greens. Freshman Brina Smith was fifth on the team with a 71. Brina, playing Leaning Tree for the first time, struggled to get comfortable and got no breaks. Well played shots took bad bounces or trickled into water. Once on the greens, Brina couldn’t get the pace of the greens making her round even more challenging. Freshman MacKanzee Thompson didn’t have her usual success off the tee and this made scoring a challenge. She did do well hitting recovery shots and hit some really good chip shots. Like Brina, she never got the pacing on the green correct and struggled making putts that would have lowered her score. The Lady Braves are back in action Saturday at the Three Rivers Conference at Round Barn in Rochester. The Lady Braves appreciate the support of parents, family, friends, former players and the parents of former players that come out and support the team. A extra thank you to Jay Hullinger for organizing the superbly run Leaning Tree Invitational and the Truax family for hosting the event. PHOTO Senior Jade Christopher after shooting her career low. The Lady Braves getting pre-match instructions. Freshman MacKanzee Thompson prepares to tee off. Aubrey Stoll with her second place medal and the rest of the top 5 finishers.