BATTLE GROUND -— It was her goal all season long. And now that goal has become a reality yet again for Southmont’s Addison Meadows who fired a +2 74 to qualify for the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals on Saturday. After shooting a 79 at the sectional, Meadows got out as an individual to the Battle Ground Regional at Battle Ground Golf Club. What made this year different than last season when Meadows qualified for the State Finals as freshman is that this season, due to adding a sixth Regional, instead of taking the top five individuals, only the top two got the chance to move on. Meadows was that second individual and her 74 was good enough for an overall finish of fourth place individually.
“She’s just a machine out on the golf course,” Southmont coach Bill Whalen said of his sophomore phenom. “She knows that she didn’t play well when she was at the state finals a year ago and I remember her telling me as we were both walking down the fairway ‘I want another shot’. I’m starting to run out of things to say about how good she is.”
In arguably the toughest of the six Regionals that features teams like Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Brownsburg, Plainfield and West Lafayette, Meadows rose to the challenge as she knows that she belongs among the state’s best.
“It’s a huge relief to get back,” Meadows said of qualifying again for the State Finals. “I played my heart out today and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. God gave me the gift of being able to play golf and how I played today is exactly how he wanted me to play.
What really stood out in her 18-hole round was that Meadows didn’t three-put once. That part of her game has been the weakest so far this season, but she saved her best putting performance of the season for when it mattered most.
“I was just confident,” Meadows said. “Putting is really hard and the greens here are really hard to read but I had the confidence in almost all of my putts today. It feels really nice to have that kind of day that I did putting on a day that means the most.”
Whalen and Meadows both talked about the importance of putting well before they Meadows began her round. It’s safe to say that conversation paid off.
“She only missed maybe one putt inside of 5-6 feet,” Whalen said. “Her entire arsenal was on display today and her putts were phenomenal. There was one putt she missed on a par three and the one drive where she ended up bogeying the hole, besides those two I don’t know of any other shots she flat out missed. She shined when it mattered most.”
Carmel (297), Westfield (319) and Zionsville (329) were the top three teams that advance to Friday mornings first round of the two-day State Finals at Prairie View Golf Club. Western’s Elizabeth Mercer (71) joins Meadows as the two individuals to qualify.
“State is going to be hard and I understand that,” Meadows said. “I also know that I’m good and that I belong there. We have a really hard Regional and it’s hard to compete against some of the girls that they have. At state I obviously want to go and have fun again, but I have serious goals of making it into the top 10 or maybe even top five.”
Meadows has once again proved that she’s among the best golfers in Indiana. After shooting a two day total of 97 and tying for 78th a season ago, it’s now redemption time for the Mountie sophomore.
“She’s going back and that’s the most important thing,” Whalen said. “I know that she has some goals that she wants to accomplish. She’s going to go out there on Friday and Saturday and give it her best shot.”
