On Friday Sept. 30^th, the Carmel Greyhounds Girls Golf team will compete in the 39^th annual ISHAA State Finals at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, In. Admission is $8 per person per day and $12 per person both days.

In the regional competition, Carmel placed first out of 12 teams with a score of 321. Defending State Champion Roncalli finished four strokes back while Zionsville finished third with a score of 340. Briana Midkiff finished tied for second with Anna Gleixner of Roncalli with a score of 78.

The mental aspect of golf is over half of the battle. “Mentally you learn to play with confidence. The girls are working on their game this week building confidence in their swings and by Friday we will be ready to compete,” said head coach Ken Kelly.

Weather can, and has been, the deciding factor in many golf matches. “Weather is always a factor playing golf. We learn to play with the conditions. Weather conditions bring another calculation factor to the equation for each shot. Adjusting for the conditions makes a difference in club selections on approach shots the most. The girls will adjust, and take the time to make a calculated decision for the condition before selecting the club for the job,” said Kelly.

Carmel, ranked sixth in a preseason poll, has some very tough competitors this year. “I would say Penn and HSE would be our biggest competitors. Teams like Carmel, Noblesville, Cathedral, Roncalli, Western, Yorktown and Center Grove all will be competing for a top nine finish to get to Saturday’s finals,” said Kelly.

The tee times start on Friday at 8:30 a.m. “At that point it’s any team’s chance to win,” said Kelly.