For Notre Dame, Tuesday’s girls Region 7 golf tournament was a chance to atone for not winning the team title a year ago.
For Conner, it was the opportunity to go to the state tournament as a team for the first time.
The Pandas and Cougars got what they wanted at Kenton County’s Pioneer Course. It was not easy – Notre Dame won with a combined 353, and Conner, four shots behind, won a one-hole playoff over two-time defending champion Ryle.
Notre Dame thus erased the memory of 2025’s 34-stroke loss to Ryle.
“I thought it’d be a close between us and Ryle,” Pandas coach Anna McCord said. “Conner sneaks up.”
Conner junior Sofia Seals called Tuesday “kind of crazy.”
“Because, oh, a few years ago, we didn’t even have a full team,” Seals said.
Cougars coach Bailey Craddock, meanwhile, understandably couldn’t relax.
“I think my heart’s going out of my chest right now,” Craddock said. “For my knowledge, this is the first time a Conner team’s made it to state all together as a team.”
Ryle coach JP Okuda thought the 60-degree temperatures affected his team “a little bit.”
“Today … we couldn’t adjust to the speed of the greens today, all day,” Okuda said.
Maria Penaranda led Notre Dame with a 5-over par 76. She was not pleased.
“Not really,” Penaranda said. “I should have hit more greens for sure. My putting was good, my long irons were where I was missing the green.”
The Pandas’ other goal was for the next three score in the mid-90s. It was an objective achieved – Caroline Bohman and Abigail Gibson both shot 92, and Diana Jiradamkerng had a 93.
“Maria leads us, but everybody else had a good round, too,” McCord said. “We did what we set out to do.”
St. Henry eighth-grader Reese Anthony won medalist honors with her 1-over 72.
“I am happy with my round,” Anthony said. “I was hitting my driver well, and I started to putt well at the end of the round. Everything started to work out at the end of the round.”
Seals led Conner with a 7-over 78. Eva Fey was next at 85, Bella White shot 94, Evie Maurits came in at 100, and Cam Broering shot a 109.
“Sofia, she’s been one of the best players in the region since she was in seventh grade,” Craddock said. I’m so proud of her; she’s made it to the state tournament since the seventh grade, but a lot of times she had to go by herself with one other teammate.”
In the playoff on the 355-yard par-4 No. 1 hole, Seals and White both carded pars, while Ryle’s Elizabeth Dickson, Lacey Wilson and Aubrey Hayes, Fey, Broering and Maurits all bogeyed.
White was maybe the most grateful – she shot a 6 in the tournament round, largely because she didn’t know she’d be playing with Wilson and St. Henry’s Alexis Fassbender.
“I like playing with girls that talk, so it always makes me nervous because I don’t sometimes know who I’m playing with,” White said.
Next is the state First Round next Tuesday at Kenton County Willows.
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
State qualifiers
Team
1. Notre Dame (353): Maria Penaranda 76, Caroline Bohman 92, Abigail Gibson 92, Diana Jiradamkerng 93, Mylah Jasper 105.
2. Conner (357, won playoff against Ryle): Sofia Seals 78, Eva Fey 85, Bella White 94, Evie Maurits 100, Cam Broering 109.
Top 10 individuals not on qualifying teams: St. Henry’s Reese Anthony (72, the low score), Ryle’s Elizabeth Dickson (74), Boone County’s Jayden Ramler (84), Ari Burton, St. Henry (84), Ryle’s Aubrey Hayes (85), Walton-Verona’s Addison VonHandorf (87), Dixie Heights’ Georgia Albrinck (90), Ryle’s Lacey Wilson (91) and Cooper’s Annabelle Woltenberg (91).
