“She’s a little longer off the tee and her putting is a little better,” Seckman head coach Brad Hagedorn said of sophomore Claire Solovic, the co-defending Class 2 state champion.
Solovic shot a two-day score of 149 to tie Rock Bridge’s Julia Bower at Columbia Country Club last season. Solovic led the field by four strokes after the first day. Her older sister, Emma Solovic, shot 156 and finished seventh, but Emma has graduated, as has Bower.
“When you have two girls at the top that’s a huge factor,” Hagedorn said of the Solovic sisters. “If you take away someone who shoots under 40 every round, that’s a big loss. Emma was a big part of what we did for four years.
“That was nice to have them together because they knew each other’s swings so they could help each other with that. Claire has been able to go and do what she does. Even when she’s not had good rounds, her score doesn’t reflect that.”
Claire has been averaging even par (36) this season. Although the Jaguars lost to Fox in the C-6 Cup last month, Claire had the low round with 38. Her low round this season was 35 at Fox Run against Northwest and Lafayette.
“Claire will have a chance to win any time she tees it up,” Hagedorn said. “In our conference she’s seen the quality of golf that’s out there. She’s focused on keeping her game where it needs to be. That conversation about repeating hasn’t come up. To win state a lot of things have to go your way.”
Seckman’s Nos. 2-3 players are juniors Hanna Kirkiewicz and Lauren Jaggie. Kirkiewicz and Jaggie both have had rounds under 50 this year.
“They’re still new to the game,” Hagedorn said.
Senior Jen Cheun is No. 4 and this is her third year on the Seckman varsity. Cheun typically shoots in the low 50s.
“She hits well and has been working on her short game,” Hagedorn said.
Freshman Emily Knight hits the ball off the tee very well, Hagedorn said.
The Jaguars competed in the Suburban West Conference championship on Wednesday after the Leader deadline.
“As a whole we’re middle of the pack in the conference,” Hagedorn said. “Our girls have improved and are right on the cut line for districts. If they shoot well we could finish in top half of our conference. Marquette and Lafayette are really impressive. We haven’t made those strides yet.”
Fox twins leading charge on golf course
Twins Macyn and Sydney Young are turning heads with their performances on golf courses this year, and Fox head coach Steve Boyd said the two juniors could be the first Warriors to qualify for state in a long time.
“These two sisters have led this team this year,” Boyd said. “They’re interchangeable as our No. 1 player.”
Boyd said it had been more than 10 years since any Fox girl had shot in the 30s in a nine-hole match. But during the C-6 Cup on Aug. 23 against Seckman, Sydney Young fired a 39, one more than the medallist, Seckman’s Claire Solovic, who tied for the Class 2 championship last year as a freshman.
Fox upended the Jaguars 194-201 to win the cup.
“That was our first match we did stroke play instead of match play,” Boyd said. “Sydney was right with Claire the whole day and bogeyed the last hole.”
Not to be outdone by her sister, Macyn fired a 39 last week against Parkway South.
“They’re very similar golfers,” Boyd said of the Youngs. “They’re long off the tee and have been working hard on their putting. They’re making good decisions. They’ll talk about how one can hit the ball farther but they are smart golfers overall. They play all of the time and that’s why they’re better this year.”
Freshman Amelia Chapman (No. 3), junior Cassie Buchanan (No. 4) and senior Maddy Plaszczyk (No. 5) round out the varsity.
Boyd said the Warriors (7-4) are having one of their best years ever. They’ve already clinched the Suburban West Conference National Division championship with wins over Seckman, Oakville, Mehlville and Northwest.
Fox had two meets this week, both after the Leader deadline – against Eureka on Tuesday and the conference championships at the Links at Dardenne on Wednesday.
Boyd said the Youngs are capable of qualifying for state.
“We have four of our top five golfers returning next year,” he said. “If anything this year will be good experience. Both (Youngs) are capable of qualifying for state because they have the length off the tees and putting ability.