Here is a wrapup of a 2020 season that finished without any COVID-19 complications, which is a win.
Best team: For the second straight season, Crown Point was the top team in Northwest Indiana. The Bulldogs finished 11th at the state meet for the second year in a row.
The Bulldogs’ two-day total at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel was 728. The Bulldogs shot a 358 on Friday and a 370 on Saturday. Delaney Adams was the top finisher for Crown Point, tying for 35th after rounds of 88 and 81 on the par-72 course.
The Bulldogs won the Duneland Athletic Conference during the regular season, won the DAC Meet, won the Lake Central Sectional and finished third at the Lafayette Jefferson Regional.
Best individual: Michigan City’s Lia Thomas, the 2019 Post-Tribune Girls Golfer of the Year, was the best golfer in Northwest Indiana again.
Thomas, a senior, finished 15th at the state meet with rounds of 79 and 80. She had placed second at the LaPorte Sectional with a 4-over 76 at Beechwood Golf Course in LaPorte. Thomas tied for 27th at the 2019 state meet.
Thomas’ teammate Taylor Skibinski, a junior, qualified for the state meet for the second straight year and tied for 58th after rounds of 87 and 89. Thomas and Skibinski were the only individual qualifiers from Northwest Indiana.
Best story: That was Chesterton senior Peyton Martinson’s return to golf.
Martinson, who worked her way into the varsity lineup as a sophomore, missed most of her junior season with ulcerative colitis.
Martinson returned this season and shot even par on the back nine at the Warsaw Invitational at Stonehenge Golf Course in Winona Lake on Aug. 22. She finished with an 83. It was a dream round for Martinson.
The second-best story was Hanover Central junior Sophia Sanchez winning medalist honors at the Valparaiso Sectional at the Valparaiso Country Club. Sanchez shot a 7-over 79. Her mother, Beth, is the Wildcats’ coach. Hanover Central brought just three girls to the sectional.
Most underrated team performance: That was Lake Central’s fourth-place finish at the Lafayette Jefferson Regional. The Indians shot a 364, 17 strokes behind Crown Point.
Lake Central has two of the best sophomores in Northwest Indiana in Kamyran Golec, who finished with an 85 at the regional, and Olivia Safranek.
Safranek had the low score for the Indians at the Lake Central Sectional at Palmira Golf Club with an 89. She shot a 90 at the regional.
Next season: It’s hard to see a scenario in which Crown Point and Lake Central aren’t the two best teams.
The Bulldogs will lose seniors Madelyn and Delaney Adams, their two anchors, and Isabella Weiss, who played No. 2 or No. 3. But junior Valentina Goza was solid and will return. Gozo finished tied for 75th at the state meet with rounds of 87 and 99. Carli Manes and Jasmine Harper, who alternated at No. 5, also will be back for Crown Point.
The Indians have the slight edge with Golec and Safranek returning.
