Newton girls down Pella at final LHC golf meet

INDIANOLA — The Newton girls golf team is peaking at the right time. Three of the Cardinals’ last four tournaments have produced their best 18-hole scores of the season, and Newton set a season-best score by 15 strokes on Monday at the third and final Little Hawkeye Conference tournament.

The Cardinals defeated rival Pella for the first time this season and finished third in the six-team field at the par 70 Indianola Country Club.

Evie Main and Eva Pak both produced career-best scores in fifth and 12th, respectively, and that guided Newton to a season-best 387.

“The girls showed up yesterday at their last conference meet,” Newton head girls golf coach Nicole George said. “We beat Pella for the first time all season, which was exciting for all of us.”

Newton ended up fourth in the final standings and Main and Eva Pak were all-conference golfers in 11th and 12th, respectively.

The new format for the LHC featured three separate 18-hole meets and a final point total to determine team standings and individual all-conference honors.

Indianola was the champion of each tournament and won Monday’s meet with a 346. The Indians totaled 18 points at the top of the final standings, while Norwalk scored 15 points in second.

The Warriors (356), Cardinals (387), Lady Dutch (396) and Dallas Center-Grimes (419) completed the top five and Oskaloosa (441) was sixth from Monday.

The LHC in-season tournament produced consistent results in all three meets with Indianola and Norwalk finishing 1-2 and DCG and Oskaloosa ending up 5-6 in all three rounds.

Pella was third twice and fourth once, while Newton was third on Monday but fourth in the other two tournaments. The Lady Dutch edged Newton 11-10 in the final standings, while DCG scored six points and Oskaloosa totaled three.

Main was fifth in the individual standings with a career-best 87. She posted nine-hole splits of 45 and 42.

Pak also had a pair of splits in the 40s as she shot a career-best 94 with 48-46 splits.

Addison Hook matched a career best with a 100, while Addie Ratcliff (106) had the final counting score.

Addison Van Maanen (109) and Kalleigh Berndt (116) turned in non-counting scores.

“We are playing some great golf going into our last regular season meet and into regional play next Wednesday,” George said. “I look forward to even lower scores coming up.”

Indianola’s Camryn Overton was the meet medalist in all three LHC tournaments. She finished with a 76 on Monday and won the conference championship with 35 points. Pella’s Karsyn Lyons was the runner-up with 28 points.

Main scored eight points in 11th and Pak tied for 12th with six points.

Norwalk’s Ava Garvey was the runner-up medalist on Monday with an 83. Indianola produced six scores under 100 and Norwalk posted five at 94 or better.