By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Ryle girls golf team made the projected cut to advance to the final round of the state tournament with a 346 first-round total that was 26 strokes behind leader Louisville Sacred Heart.
Eight golfers did not complete Tuesday’s first round at Bowling Green Country Club due to darkness. They will finish the round early Wednesday morning, but their final scores are not expected to impact the projected team standings.
The top 11 teams advance to Wednesday’s final round and Ryle is in ninth place. This is the third consecutive year that the Region 7 champions have made the cut. Last year, the Raiders were third in the final standings.
Ryle’s team leader in Tuesday’s first round was junior Caitlyn Richardson with a 10-over 82 that tied for 32nd place on the leaderboard. She was even-par after the first six holes, but she had five pars, four bogeys and three double-bogeys on the last 12 holes.
The other team scorers for Ryle were eighth-grader Sophia DiPaolo (83), senior Olivia DePaolo (83) and senior Grace Grant (98).
Twenty golfers who are not members of the top 11 teams also qualify for Wednesday’s final round, but no local golfers shot low enough scores to be among that group.
The best first-round scores posted by local golfers not on Ryle’s team were by Clare Hooper of Notre Dame (86), Brooke Bihl of Newport Central Catholic (86), Annie Gronotte of Notre Dame (88), Abby Cook of Brossart (89) and Lauren Abner of Notre Dame (90).
The top names on the leaderboard after the first round were juniors MacKenzie Neal of Madison Central and Laney Frye of Lexington Christian, who both shot even-par 72.
Complete first-round results from the girls state golf tournament are posted on the khsaa.org website.
TOP TEAM SCORES
1. Louisville Sacred Heart 320, 2. Lexington Christian 324, 3. Madison Central 327, 4. Scott County 333, 5. Marshall County 339. Local Teams — 9. Ryle 346, 12. Notre Dame 361.
TOP INDIVIDUAL SCORES
72 — MacKenzie Neal (Madison Central), Laney Frye (Lexington Christian). 73 — Faith Martin (South Warren), Addie Westbrook (Taylor County). 74 — Taylor Edlin (Sacred Heart), Rylea Marcum (Scott County).
TOP LOCAL SCORES
82 — Caitlyn Richardson (Ryle). 83 — Sophia DiPaolo (Ryle), Olivia DePaolo (Ryle). 86 — Clare Hooper (Notre Dame), Brooke Bihl (NewCath). 88 — Annie Gronotte (Notre Dame). 89 — Abby Cook (Brossart). 90 — Lauren Abner (Notre Dame). 96 — Hannah Hall (Walton-Verona). 97 — Lauren Meese (Notre Dame), Lauren Mays (St. Henry).