It got hot at the Marshfield Girls Invitational Golf Tournament in Marshfield Tuesday aftenoon. But so did the Mt. Vernon Mountaineers.
The 'Neers, behind the stellar play of juniors Brooke Wendler and Madison Soetaert, cruised past a twelve team field easily outdistancing the runnerup Marshfield Lady Blue Jays by sixteen strokes, 372-388, and the third place West Plains Zizzers, who recorded a 391, by nineteen.
Wendler carded a 37 on her front nine at the Marshfield Country Club course and followed that up with a 42 on the back. Soetaert registered rounds of 40-48.
MARSHFIELD INVITATIONAL PHOTOS
"When I saw Brooke and Madison's front nine scores it gave me a lot of hope that we could get a win here at Marshfield," said Mt. Vernon head coach T. J. Hagerman. "I told all the other girls about their scores and I think it helped to encourage them to keep playing hard. By the end of their round every girl on the team had recorded their personal best to help get the victory."
"This is definitely something we set our sights on as a team this year, to win an early season tournment," the Neer's coach said. "Our girls have been working very hard and we've had some really great practices as of late. The results of their efforts showed up big for us today."
For the Neers, the victory was leaps and bounds over their eleventh place finish at the Seymour Invitational last week.
Wendler, who fired a 79 to lead the Neer's to a title in Marshfield, recored a 97 at the Seymour Invite. So what made the difference?
"I played with a lot more confidence today," Wendler said. "The mental side of my game was much better."
But there was more.
"My short game was much better this week and I was getting the ball on the green," the Marshfield Tourney's top medalist said. "Last week I struggled with my putter- but not here in Marshfield. I made a lot of putts today."
Soetaert felt that the week's practice, between the Seymour and Marshfield tournaments, had made a big differenct in how she approached Tuesday's invitational.
"I felt a lot more comfortable with today's round. I made a lot of pars and hit recovery shots well," Soetaert said. "We came back strong from last week's performance and I feel a lot better now about where we are at this point of the season."
Finishing out the Neer's scorecard, for a 372, were Camryn Eldridge- 100, Emily Trimble- 105 and Shelby Myers- 125.
Only the top four scores posted are counted for team totals.
The second place Marshfield Lady Jays, en route to a 388, were led by Lauren Meizler with a 93. She was joined by Yasmine Thomas- 96, Grace Tibbs- 98, Lacey Glidewell- 101 and Hannah Mashburn- 114.
The third place West Plains Zizzers, with a score of 391, were paced by Marisa Butler's 80. Also putting up numbers for the Zizzers were Caroline Beykirch- 85, Sidney Burgess- 103 and Arionna Leslie- 123.
Although unable to pull off a victory in their own invitational, Marshfield golf coach Sheraton Hunter was more than pleased with the effort her girls showed.
"We finished fifth last week in the Seymour Invitational. It was a big tournament and we played pretty well, " Hunter said. "Our girls wanted to win this one, their tournament, really bad. We didn't get the win, but overall, they were pleased with their finish and I couldn't be more proud of them."
Hunter was also quick to point out the effort of Lacey Glidewell.
"Lacey didn't play last week so this was her first test of the new year," the Lady Jay coach said. "She fired a 101 which really helped our team out."
As for the Mountaineers, Coach Hagerman had a few more words of praise.
"I was especially pleased with the mental toughness our kids showed today," the Neers coach said. "Despite a slow start by some of our kids, when we needed them the most, they rallied to finish strong and get us the win."
Mt. Vernon will participate in the Webb City Invitational on Thursday. The tournament will take place in Schifferdecker.
Marshfield Tourney Scoreboard
School Score
1 Mt. Vernon 372
2 Marshfield 388
3 West Plains 391
4 Logan-Rogersville 399
5 Seneca 403
6 Strafford 435
7 Branson 443
8 Lebanon 488
9 Seymour 509
10 Buffalo 519
11 Hollister NTS
12 Bolivar NTS
Top 10 Medalists
Name School Score
1 Brooke Wendler Mt. Vernon 79
2 Marisa Butler West Plains 80
3 Ashtynn Russell Bolivar 82
4 Caroline Beykirch West Plains 85
5 Madison Soetaert Mt. Vernon 88
6 Maggie Moore Seneca 89
7 Makenna Krsl Hollister 92
8 Lauren Meizler Marshfield 93
9 Alyssa Jungers Rogersville 94
10 Yasmine Thomas Marshfield 96
