Sindlinger swings back

Charles City senior recovers from tough hole to win NEIC Girls Golf Tournament medalist honors; Comets place 2nd

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

WAVERLY — For Jamie Sindlinger, Waverly Municipal Golf Course’s fifth hole was like a black hole.

The kind nearly impossible to crawl out of.

“I guess I could have rolled over and quit at that point,” the Charles City senior said about her Ernie Els-like quadruple bogey, “but I’m not just out here for myself … I’m out here for my team, and they needed me to finish strong.”

So what did Sindlinger do? She birdied the next hole, which made for a peculiar “9-2” sequence on her scorecard.

Sindlinger wasn’t out of the woods yet — literally. On the 18th hole, she found herself surrounded by trees and then had to chip out of a trap. But she kept bogey damage under control on way to carding a medalist score of 86 at the Northeast Iowa Conference Tournament on Tuesday.

It was Sindlinger’s first NEIC singles title, but not the first in her family.

Older sister Jessie Sindlinger won three conference titles as well as four state titles during her career as a Comet. She’s currently a junior at Iowa where she’s one of the top golfers for the Hawkeyes women’s team.

“I get a lot of encouragement from her,” Sindlinger said of her older sister. “She is obviously very good at what she does, and having someone that talented as my sister gives me confidence that I could do well, too.”

Sindlinger is a two-time state qualifier — once as a sophomore with the Comets’ state runner-up team in 2014, and last year as an individual. But she has long since acknowledged that golf is not her No. 1 sport.

“It’s always been volleyball,” said Sindlinger, who will continue her V-ball career at Luther College.

In addition to Sindlinger, Charles City placed two other golfers on the All-Conference team (Top 15 individuals) with sophomore Emma Williams carding a 96 and junior Gen Wandro scoring a 101. When including junior Abby Milligan’s 107, the Comets had a combined score of 390, which placed them second.

New Hampton, led by juniors Ellie Ewert and Mya Anderson’s co-runner-up scores of 88, placed first with 374.

Rounding out the NEIC team placings were Waverly-Shell Rock (392) led by fourth-place individual Emma Robson (94), Decorah (394), Waukon (415), Crestwood (429) and Oelwein (458).

For the Comets, their 18-hole team score was the lowest of the season — mainly because the NEIC Championships was their first 18-hole meet of the season.

“I can’t say that I expected them to do this well,” Comets head coach Eric Johanningmeier said of his young team.

It was less than two weeks ago that the Comets first scored under 200 in a 9-hole meet.

“But I do expect them to be prepared to give their best effort,” Johanningmeier said. “And that’s what they did today.

“For some of our girls, [playing 18 holes] in a meet like this was a new experience for them. It’s how you take to these new experiences that will determine how well you’ll do in the future.”

The Comets will play in two more 18-hole meets — Friday at Forest City and the following Monday (May 16) in Mason City.

They will return to Waverly MGC on May 23 for regionals.

Northeast Iowa Conference
Tournament

May 10

At Waverly Municipal Golf Course

NEW HAMPTON (374) — Ellie Ewert 88, Mya Anderson 88, Jayden Usher 96, Val Rinken 102, Katie Tupper 108, Melanie Dahl 102.

CHARLES CITY (390) — Jamie Sindlinger 86, Emma Williams 96, Gen Wandro 101, Abby Milligan 107, Taylor Hoffman 113, Mija Cotton 114.

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK (392) — Emma Robson 94, Anna Kayser 96, Isabelle Seehusen 100, Shelby Johnson 102, Emma Prescott 102, Renae Kane 117.

DECORAH (394) — Chloe Gossling 96, Melanie Gossman 98, Ashley Gulrud 98, Alexa Lensing 102, Augusta Casterton 102, Claudia Cowie 109.

WAUKON (415) — Leslie Sivesind 96, Annika Anderson 106, Kylee Hager 106, Caitlin Shelton 108, Kayla Palmer 107, Jessica Sholes 116.

CRESTWOOD (429) — Nicole Fosaaen 100, Hannah Sheehy 104, Meredith Sheehy 112, Ashley Voves 113, Haley Martin 134.

OELWEIN (458) — Amber Rosenstiel 98, MaKayla Logan 118, Hailey Scott 117, Madison Meyer 125, Madison Weatherbee 147.