Lafayette Jeff golfers tied for sixth at state championships

The start was painfully slow, but once Lafayette Jeff’s girls golf team shed the jitters, the Bronchos posted three solid scores and are tied for sixth place with Valparaiso after Friday’s opening round of the 15-team IHSAA state finals at The Legends.

Chesternon senior Kelly Grassel is the individual leader at 3-under-par 69, and Yorktown shot 319 to post the best team score, two strokes better than Carmel’s 321.

Penn is third (324), Noblesville is fourth (328), Evansville North is fifth (333), and Jeff and Valparaiso each shot 334.

The Lafayette Sectional and Lafayette Regional champion Bronchos got a 78 from sophomore Samantha Hatter, an 80 from junior Lindsey Burklow and an 83 from senior Lindsey Burkhardt, who plays the No. 5 position in coach John Hatter’s lineup. Abbie Carlsen added a 93, and Maryn Hamilton had 110. Only the top four scores count.

Central Catholic freshman Morgan Brown, 14, fired an 81, including a four-putt on her final hole.

Although Burkhardt was frustrated by a triple-bogey 7 on No. 14, she picked the perfect day to shoot the third-best round of her life.

“I went into it saying, ‘We’ve made it to the second day, and that’s the whole goal,’ “ Burkhardt said, noting the format change that has all state finals teams playing 36 holes. “It’s my senior year, so I decided to just leave it all out on the course.

“I didn’t go into this nervous. I went into it loose and calm and played that way the whole day. That’s what helped me. Knowing that we would play Saturday made a bunch of difference. Today, my short game was awful, but I was amazing off the tee.”

Hatter started with a double-bogey on No. 1, then played the final 17 holes at four over par.

“I was really happy with my round,” Hatter said. “I’ve never shot under 80 on this course, especially at the state tournament. That’s a great feeling to have. Putting was my good element today. I had only 28 putts for 18 holes. I felt confident every time I got on the green. I also think there was a lot less pressure knowing that we already were guaranteed playing on the second day. We’re capable of putting up a better number Saturday.”

Like Hatter, Burklow started slowly. The junior was six over through five holes, then played the final 13 in two over par.

“It was a rough start until I finally got my first par on No. 6,” Burklow said. “At the beginning, I was a little shaky. I was kind of nervous, and I don’t know why. Then, I settled down. I said, ‘I can do this.’ Finally, I decided it was going to be a good day. It was nice that we had good weather. That’s the first time in a long time we’ve had that for state. I hit the ball pretty well.”

Heavy fog and wet grounds delayed the start by more than 30 minutes, but it didn’t bother CC’s Brown, who had an early tee time.

“My driver wasn’t the best, but my approach shots were straight and solid,” Brown said. “It is great experience for me being here. Next year, I probably won’t be as nervous. I wasn’t that nervous for today, because I didn’t expect to win. As a freshman, 81 here is not bad.”