A shaky front nine at Sycamore Springs in Arlington cost the Cardinal Stritch girls’ golf team a chance to reach the state tournament for the first time in school history.

Seven days after winning their third straight Division II sectional title, the Cardinals finished in a tie for sixth place out of 14 teams at Tuesday's district tournament.

Coach Jeff De Selms' squad shot 383 to tie Minster for sixth place, but only the top three teams and the top three individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to the D-II state tournament Oct. 14-15 at Ohio State University's Gray Course.

Stritch golfer Ally Niehaus (Press photo by Doug Karns/KateriSchools.org

“We started off slow on the front nine, but we were able to turn it around and play a lot better on the back nine,” De Selms said. “When we made the turn, we were kind of out of it. I'm proud of all the girls. They were focused and they really forgot about what they did on the front nine and played more loose on the back nine.

“My three seniors, especially, just said, 'Let's just go out here and play the back nine as best as we can.' Sure enough, they threw up some good scores just like that. If we wouldn't have started off so slow … I think there was some disappointment.”

Senior Ally Neihaus, the sectional runner-up, led the Cardinals with a 12-over-par 84 at Sycamore Springs. The three individual state qualifiers were Woodmore’s Mikayla Baer, who shot 78, Clyde’s Lhing Worathanawong (79) and Lakota’s Makayla Dull (81).

“Ally took an eight on one hole on the back nine,” De Selms said. “If she takes a four, she's right there at 80. I thought she was a little disappointed, but she handled it well. She said, 'I hit a couple bad shots.' Then she got a couple pars and birdies to get her score back down. She was my No. 1 all year. The best player on the team.”

Sophomore Emily Turski recovered from shooting a 52 on the front nine and shot a 47 after the turn to finish with a 97. Seniors Taylor Laston and Celene Harrison, the daughter of assistant coach Brent Harrison, shot 100 and 102, respectively.

De Selms inserted Victoria Pinciotti into the lineup and the freshman finished with a 115. Pinciotti played in place of junior Hannah Tucker, who placed 27th at sectionals.

“I put Pinciotti in there to gain some experience in place of Hannah,” De Selms said. “I wanted her to get experience for next year. It was a tossup between (playing) her and Hannah.”

Lima Central Catholic won the district title with a team score of 365, and Sandusky Perkins was second at 367. Van Buren and Edison both shot 380 to tie for third, but Van Buren advanced to the state tournament via a scorecard playoff.

“We shaved 20-some strokes off (at districts) this year,” De Selms said, “so that was a major confidence booster for the girls. Overall, they were disappointed but they were happy they made a run at it this year and made some improvement with almost the same bunch of girls. We did have a very good season. We went down and gave it our best shot.”

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