Lafayette Jeff coasts to City/County golf title

With a 35-stroke City/County Tournament victory secured, it’s almost a given that Lafayette Jeff will win asixth consecutive Lafayette Sectional championship on Saturday at the par-72 Battle Ground Golf Club.

However, three of the seven participating sectional teams will advance to the Sept. 22 Lafayette Regional, giving hope to those who don’t play for the Bronchos.

Jeff got a City/County medal-winning 79 from sophomore Samantha Hatter and a second-place 82 from junior Lindsey Burklow to win a fifth consecutive title in this five-team event.

McCutcheon, which got an 85 from Hailey Harris and a 90 from Morgan Harris, placed second at 374. Freshman Morgan Brown’s 85 helped Central Catholic finish third at 381, and junior Rachel Ho’s 83 led West Lafayette to fourth place with 386. Harrison finished with 412.

“This event helps a lot, because we are going to play the sectional from the same distance,” Hatter said. “It’s a confidence boost right now. We played better today after we had a little pep talk team meeting Wednesday night.

“Everybody took it to heart. Everyone tried her best today, and it showed. My teammates played to the best of their abilities.”

While it finished fourth, West Lafayette, according to Ho, believes it can earn one of the three regional berths.

“I told my teammates, ‘Everything this week is in preparation for sectionals,’ “ Ho said. “You might as well get all of those bad shots out of the way while you can now, so on Saturday, you will know what to do and won’t feel any pressure.

“We shot amazing at Hoosier Conference, and we think there is no reason we shouldn’t (advance). As long as everyone keeps a positive attitude, golf is a crazy game. Anything can happen.”

Jeff coach John Hatter, the medalist’s father, is trying to stress that to his talented team.

“The last two weeks, we haven’t been playing our best golf,” John Hatter said. “We’re not far off, but we haven’t been playing our best. I tried to remind them of what it is going to take to have a good postseason run. Some of the play we’ve had the past couple of weeks is not good enough.

“Sometimes, you have to tell them a couple of times before they get it. Some of them responded pretty well today. We want to play our best golf Saturday.”