The Gibson Southern Lady Titan golf team competed at the Jasper Sectional at the Buffalo Trace Golf Course on Saturday, Sept. 17.. The Lady Titans advanced to the Regional, shooting a total team score of 274. The top scorers for the team were senior Madilyn Sperling with the best score of 90, senior Vanessa Schmitt with a 93, sophomore Haley Hughes with a 94, junior Katelyn Walker with a 97 and senior Adryauna Redden with a 107.

Head Coach Kristen Harpenau thought hard work was key to the lady’s second place finish in Sectional 22.

“The girls have put in a lot of hard work at practice and have shown that they wanted to succeed in the postseason,” Harpenau said. “They were confident and ready for [the] Sectional.”

According to Schmitt, despite the excitement about advancing, individuals were not wholly pleased with their scores.

“Overall, as a team, we placed second, and we are getting the chance to advance to Regional, which is an awesome experience for us,” Schmitt said. “As a team, though, everyone played up to their potential as much as they could due to the heat. But, overall, not everyone was happy with their final scores in the end. It sure wasn’t any of our best scores we’ve had over the season, but it got us second place, and everyone was satisfied with that, knowing they have their off days.”

Knowing there is room for improvement, there are a few things the girls will do to prepare for the upcoming Regional.

“We have practice everyday leading up to Regional,” Walker said. “We will also go up to Country Oaks to play a practice round.”

Harpenau agreed that the team did not perform to its full potential at the Sectional but noted that the course was a difficult one.

“The girls played well on a really tough course,” Harpenau said. “While as a team we

did not score our lowest round of the year, each of the girls played really well on most of the holes. Unfortunately, the back nine at Jasper’s Buffalo Trace Golf Course is not very forgiving.

We had some pretty solid shots that just didn’t result in positions, or lies, in our favor.”

While the Jasper course took its toll on the Lady Titan golfers, Harpenau is optimistic about the Regional.

“Due to the way we have been striking the ball, and our familiarity with Country Oaks Golf Course, we are really looking forward to Regional.”

While the goal of many teams is to play their hardest and try to win, Harpenau wants the girls to take a different approach to the upcoming tournament.

“Our goals for the rest of the postseason are to play our best, make it as far as we can, and enjoy the rest of the season,” she said. “We have accomplished making it to Regional and are very excited about that. From here on out, I want the girls to have fun playing the game of

golf.”

The Lady Titans will play in Regional 5 at Country Oaks Golf Course in Washington, Ind., on Saturday, Sept. 24. Tee time is at 8:30 a.m. EST.