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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester sophomore Olivia Bailey was the medalist with a 35 against Tippecanoe Valley at Round Barn Golf Club at Mill Creek Thursday, but the person made to feel special was Bailey’s teammate Payton Moore.
Playing her final nine-hole home match of her prep career, Moore shot a 45 and finished her round with a birdie on No. 18 as the Lady Zs earned a 167-236 win.
Ava Thomas added a 39, Lexi Haughs had a 48, and Ella McCarter had a 55 to round out the Rochester scorecard.
JV player Laynie Migonis shot a 58.
Rochester finished the season 15-2 in nine-hole matches. They won 75 percent of Moore’s nine-hole matches (45-15) during her four-year varsity career.
“A great deal,” Rochester coach Chad Thomas said when asked how much Moore’s teammates respect her. “She’s got a great personality. She likes to take the leadership role. Being the only senior, they look up to her. She has a lot of experience, and they do look up to her a lot.”
Maddie Thompson led Valley with a 48, which tied her personal low for nine holes. Lucy Hayden added a 61, Jenna Prater had a 62, Maris Overbey had a 65, and Makynna Rentschler had a 67.
Prater’s 62 was also a personal low, and Rentschler has also scored a personal low this week.
Valley first-year coach Leslie Brouyette is working on teaching the game. Thompson is the only player back from last year’s team that finished seventh at the regional. Madelyn Weaver, Molly Moriarty, Kaydence Mellott and Lily Ault graduated.
“They need everything,” Brouyette said. “Confidence, just swinging the club. We usually will go back to the range and spend 45 minutes at the range, 45 minutes putting and chipping, and we’ll go and play at least three holes. That’s pretty much our routine. They just need repetition. Maddie and Makynna had some experience, but the rest of them didn’t have a lot.”
Valley will play at the Warsaw sectional at Stonehenge Golf Club in Winona Lake. Tee time is 9:20 a.m. Saturday.
Rochester will play at the Twin Lakes sectional at Tippecanoe Country Club in Monticello. Tee time is 11 a.m. Monday. Rochester will be paired with defending sectional champion Kankakee Valley and Rensselaer.
“Focus has been good,” Thomas said. “We had a good practice round yesterday at Tippy, and they’ve maintained good focus.”
Rochester 167, Valley 236
at Round Barn Golf Club at Mill Creek Thursday (back nine, par 36)
ROCHESTER (167): Olivia Bailey 35, Ava Thomas 39, Payton Moore 45, Lexi Haughs 48, (Ella McCarter 55)
VALLEY (236): Maddie Thompson 48, Lucy Hayden 61, Jenna Prater 62, Maris Overbey 65, (Makynna Rentschler 67)
ROCHESTER JV: Laynie Migonis 58
