Rochester’s Moore, Haughs make All-TRC team as team places 3rd
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
WABASH — The Rochester girls golf team shot a 394 and finished third at the Three Rivers Conference tournament at Honeywell Golf Course Saturday, ending their run of three straight conference titles.
Northfield won on their home course with a 345, and Manchester was second with a 391.
Molly Moore shot a 79 to lead Rochester. Lexi Haughs added a 90, Audrey Widman had a 110, Lily Chipps had a 115, and Makenna Jackson had a 119.
Moore finished second overall and made the all-conference team for the third straight year, and Haughs finished in a tie for seventh and returned to the all-conference team for the second time in her career. She also made it in 2024.
The top 10 scores plus ties made the All-TRC team.
Jackson’s score was a personal best for 18 holes and came in just her second 18-hole tournament of her career.
Peru’s Piercey Dyer, a Marian University recruit, shot a 72 to win medalist honors for the third straight year.
A junior, Moore has finished fifth, third and second at the conference tournament during her career.
Her round included a birdie on the par-5 second hole, which was her last hole of the day. But the other par-5s tormented her: She doubled-bogeyed No. 7 and triple-bogeyed No. 12.
“Very solid round,” Moore said. “I just had a few blow-up holes. Obviously the score made it, not as low as I wanted, but golf-wise, it’s getting way better and more consistent, so other than those two blow-up holes on those par-5s, it was really good.”
Moore said she and coach Dan Bailey have been working on approach shots in practice. Bailey said they are the types of shots that will benefit Moore if she decides to play college golf.
“So I’m used to hitting the same approach shot every time,” Moore said. “Like, if I’m going to hit it high, it’s going to get on the green, but it’s not going to roll out. That’s what gets me is if the pin’s like 80, I’m going to hit it 70, so then I’m going to have a difficult putt. So he’s been working on having a low approach shot with just a simple wedge. Nothing big. That makes it more consistent, and that rolls out to the green, which would have me a better birdie opportunity. I do believe it’s helping; I’m still figuring it out though.”
Said Bailey of Moore: “Overall, she played really well. It is frustrating to do that on a par-5 because those are the holes that golfers tend to look at as ones you can par or birdie. So to bogey them, it makes me feel like a double-bogey or a triple-bogey sometimes. … In that aspect, those are the ones you’re supposed to score well on, but she hit it way better than her score indicated.”
Haughs’ round included pars on three of the four par-3s on the course – Nos. 7, 15 and 16.
“It feels good, I guess,” Haughs said of making the all-conference team. “I like that I am able to also do it my senior year because if I weren’t, I’d be more upset than not making it.”
Known for her length off the tee, Haughs was asked about her mental approach to the game and ridding herself of inconsistencies in her game.
“I feel like it’s a lot better this year than it has been these past three years,” Haughs said. “And I definitely feel like today was one of my better days. … Obviously, at the end of the entire match, you can reflect on what you need to work on and everything, but during the match, you shouldn’t reflect on the last hole or the last shot. You just need to think about what you need to do for the next shot and what you need to focus on and tempo and everything instead of reflecting on your bad shots.”
Like Moore, Bailey said Haughs’ play was better than her score indicated.
“I think she had three three-putts and one blow-up hole, and other than that, she was pretty consistent, right around par or bogey most every hole,” Bailey said. “It’s nice to see. The last two weeks, we’ve had PR, PR, PR from three, four and five, and now we’ve got one and two rounding into form here before sectionals, so that’s nice to see.”
Haughs also said how “mind-blowing” it is that Widman and Chipps have improved so much. She said they have done in three years what it has taken her seven years to do. Widman’s score was the second best 18-hole score of her life. As for Chipps, she broke 100 for the first time at the Rochester Invitational two weeks earlier.
“Lily had a rougher day today,” Bailey said. “If she hadn’t have had several PRs in the last three weeks, I would have said it was OK, but she was a little disappointed today. Audrey was right around 109, and she shot 110 today. Right on par with it. Makenna Jackson, only her second 18-hole match ever, and she knocked six strokes off. So we even got a PR from a freshman that hasn’t played very much, so that’s really exciting.”
Rochester traveled to Tippecanoe Country Club in Monticello to play Twin Lakes, Kankakee Valley and Winamac in a four-way dual Monday.
Then, they will host Indiana Northern State Conference champ Tippecanoe Valley Tuesday at Round Barn Golf Club at Mill Creek on senior night.
The sectional is at Tippecanoe Country Club Sept. 21.
“Same thing we have been working on all year long,” Bailey said when asked what the team will be working on between now and the sectional. “It’s going to be chipping and putting, the short stuff. Shots inside of 80 yards or so. That’s just where you make up a lot of ground. If you went through hole by hole, our players take the most shots from 80 yards and in, so if we can cut that down by a half-shot every hole, you’re looking at a lot of strokes down. We’re going to keep working on the short game.”
THREE RIVERS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
at Honeywell Golf Course, Wabash, Saturday (par 71)
Northfield 345, Manchester 391, ROCHESTER 394, Northwestern 428, Maconaquah 438, Whitko 440, Wabash 440, Southwood 467, Lewis Cass 467, Peru 475
NORTHFIELD (345): Dale 83, Sorg 84, Haupert 86, Cartwright 92 (Dawes 102)
MANCHESTER (391): Spangle 90, D’Andrea 90, Reid 101, Tobias 110, (Simcoe 112)
ROCHESTER (394): MOLLY MOORE (38-41) 79, LEXI HAUGHS (47-43) 90, AUDREY WIDMAN (52-58) 110, LILY CHIPPS (61-54) 115, (MAKENNA JACKSON (62-57) 119)
NORTHWESTERN (428): Lawson 97, Taylor 102, Cobble 107, White 122, (Duncan 130)
MACONAQUAH (438): Stoll 84, Duke 112, Farnham 117, Smith 125, (Hanson 132)
WHITKO (440): Luecke 105, Klepinger 107, Tarlton 114, Krieg 114, (Ford 122)
WABASH (440): Brewer 94, Brockshire 111, Browns 114, Coffman 121, (Indrutz 131)
SOUTHWOOD (467): Eis 111, Schipper 116, Stouffer 119, Shenefield 121, (Hiner 125)
LEWIS CASS (467): Willis 105, Hull 116, Coffman 122, Collins 124, (Holmquist 131)
PERU (475): Dyer 72, Peck 127, Musser 138, Snow 138
All-TRC (top 10 individuals): 1. Piercey Dyer (PERU) – 72, 2. MOLLY MOORE (RHS) – 79, 3. Ayla Dale (NF) – 83, t-4. Aubrey Stoll (MAC) – 84, t-4. Addy Sorg (NF) – 84, 6. Viv Haupert (NF) – 86, T-7. LEXI HAUGHS (RHS) – 90, t-7. Clare D’Andrea (MAN) – 90, t-7. Piper Spangle (MAN) – 90, 10. Kassidy Cartwright (NF) – 90
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