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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester girls golf team shot a 334 to win their second straight Three Rivers Conference title at Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru Saturday. They beat runner-up Maconaquah by 39 strokes. From left – assistant coach Dan Bailey, Olivia Bailey, Laynie Migonis, Ava Thomas (holding trophy), Molly Moore, Lexi Haughs, coach Chad Thomas.
PERU — One might think that the pressure was on the Rochester girls golf team at the Three Rivers Conference tournament at Rock Hollow Golf Club Saturday.
After all, they returned two state qualifiers in Olivia Bailey and Ava Thomas from last year’s team that won the TRC. And at No. 16, they were the only state-ranked team in the field.
As it turned out, it wasn’t so much pressure they held as it was fun that they had, shooting a 334 to win another conference crown in the searing heat and humidity.
Bailey shot a 77 to lead the Lady Zs. Thomas added a 79, Molly Moore had an 86, Lexi Haughs had a 92, and Laynie Migonis had a 101.
Bailey (tied for second), Thomas (fourth), Moore (fifth) and Haughs (tied for sixth) all made the all-TRC team by finishing in the top 10. Migonis’ score was a personal best for 18 holes.
Maconaquah was second with a 373, and no other team broke 400.
“Very, very good,” Rochester coach Chad Thomas said. “I’m very proud of the girls. They responded today. They did what they had to do. They all put together solid rounds, and they took care of business.”
Historical golf records are unclear, but the 39-stroke margin of victory is believed to be the largest in decades, and the winning score of 334 is also believed to be the lowest score by the conference champion in decades.
It is also the second lowest score in Rochester team history, trailing only the 317 they shot at their home invitational on Aug. 31. The three lowest team scores for 18 holes have occurred this season.
“More fun,” Ava Thomas, the team’s lone senior, said. “Because I felt like we knew we could do it. We had seen it happen before, so we just had fun this time.”
Bailey felt “alright” about her 77 but also was all smiles about the team’s accomplishment.
“It feels really good,” Bailey said. “I’m really happy that we won. We came here with that in mind, and we came here with that as our goal, and we did it. … I don’t think there was very much pressure, but we all really wanted to do well, and we wanted to show that we could still do it.”
Moore’s sister Payton made the all-TRC team three times in her career before graduating last year. Now Moore has made it as a freshman. She opened her round with two birdies, joking she started on “the struggle bus” before reminding herself what she had done.
“It was a good start, and then it started going downhill, … and then towards the end, after like hole 15, I knew what I had to do to be in the 80s, so I finished strong,” Moore said. “I was hoping top 10, but I was expecting more of a ninth or 10th. I was not expecting fifth at all.”
Migonis was on the JV last year but worked her way to the varsity this year. She played on the Marshall County Junior Tour and took private lessons with Rochester native and golf pro Brad Fellers.
“I only had like four lessons with him probably at the end of the summer, and that’s about it,” Migonis said. “I went out and practiced pretty much every day. He helped me with literally everything. The first lesson was like my swing and stuff, and then we just kept working on that. And he worked on my putting with me.”
Migonis said the girls on the team are close-knit.
“We’re very close,” Migonis said. “We’re all pretty much besties. … Golfing with good people because it’s a great environment to be in.”
Migonis noted that the course had a lot of trees. Bailey said the “lies were pretty tight.” Ava Thomas, Bailey and Moore said the greens were fast. Moore said she could not control her shorter chip shots once they hit the green.
Coach Thomas said he emphasized improving the players’ short games in the two practices leading up to the tournament.
“We still have areas where we need to get better, but I think some of the girls were able to work out some of the questions they had about their short game,” coach Thomas said. “You definitely need a good short game here. The greens were rolling really, really well. This is a course that if you put it in the right spots, you can score well here. But if you get off path any, it can bite you. That happened a couple times to a couple of the girls, but overall, they handled it well and kept their heads about him and turned in a really good score.”
Ultimately, keeping their heads on a hot day on a tough course might have given them an extra boost.
“I know she’s put a lot of pressure on herself,” coach Thomas said of Ava. “I told her just to relax and let it happen, but that’s got to come from inside of her. … But I didn’t see the emotions. She has two holes she’d love to have back, and that’s probably what she’s referring to. Beat herself up probably after those two holes – one on the front, one on the back. But still to come in with a sub-80 round and have two holes that you didn’t do very well on says a lot about the rest of your round.”
Haughs chopped 16 strokes off her 2023 score at conference, but that does not mean her score Saturday surprised Thomas.
“I’d believe you,” coach Thomas said when asked how he would react if he had been told before the season that Haughs would make the all-conference team. “Because I see all of the work that she put in over the summer and all the tournaments she played, and I’m very excited for her. That’s just a testament to what hard work and putting time on the course does. I’m tickled to death to have four players make all-conference, and Laynie had a solid round too.”
Peru’s Piercey Dyer was the medalist with a 72. Maconaquah’s Daisy Williams, the TRC medalist each of the previous three years, shot a 77 and tied with Bailey for second. Dyer and Williams were the only players besides Bailey and Ava Thomas to break 80.
at Rock Hollow Golf Club, Peru, Saturday (par 72)
ROCHESTER 334, Maconaquah 373, Peru 417, Southwood 420, Northwestern 424, Wabash 426, Northfield 434, Manchester 466, Whitko 469, Lewis Cass 499
ROCHESTER (334): Olivia Bailey 77 (all-TRC), Ava Thomas 79 (all-TRC), Molly Moore 86 (all-TRC), Lexi Haughs 92 (all-TRC), (Laynie Migonis 101)
MACONAQUAH (373): Williams 77 (all-TRC), Stoll 92 (all-TRC), Dobbs 93 (all-TRC), Duke 111, (Bond 119)
PERU (417): Dyer 72 (medalist, all-TRC), Nero 110, Caldwell 111, Beattie 124, (Dunnaway 141)
SOUTHWOOD (420): Chenoweth 95 (all-TRC), Goodpasture 98, Schipper 112, Topliff 115, (Gaylourd 124)
NORTHWESTERN (424): Wray 95 (all-TRC), Shoaff 102, Cobble 105, Lawson 122, (Mula 134)
WABASH (426): McWhirt 99, Brewer 109, Till 109, Indrutz 109, (Adams WD)
NORTHFIELD (434): Sorg 94 (all-TRC), Dale 101, Wilson 119, Odey 120, (Dawes 129)
MANCHESTER (466): Spangle 100, Shah 118, Reid 120, Schanner 128, (Simone 129)
WHITKO (469): Burnworth 101, H. Long 118, T. Long 121, Tarlton 129
LEWIS CASS (499): Willis 108, Toops 122, Frey 134, Collins 135, (Coffman 139)
All-TRC (top 10 plus ties): 1. Piercey Dyer (Peru) – 72, t-2. Olivia Bailey (Rochester) – 77, t-2. Daisy Williams (Maconaquah) – 77, 4. Ava Thomas (Rochester) – 79, 5. Molly Moore (Rochester) – 86, t-6. Lexi Haughs (Rochester) – 92, t-6. Aubrey Stoll (Maconaquah) – 92, 8. Finley Dobbs (Maconaquah) – 93, 9. Addy Sorg 94, t-10. Berkeley Wray (Northwestern) – 95, t-10. Madison Chenoweth (Southwood) – 95
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