Busy South golfer wins Newton invite

From Pebble Beach to Sand Creek Station, Salina South senior golfer Hannah Martin has been busy.

Martin came into the Newton Invitational Thursday at Sand Creek Station posting a four-over par 40 to win top medalist honors and lead Salina South to the team title of the 13-team tournament.

South shot a team score of 201, edging Andover by a stroke. Concordia finished third at 211.

Martin claimed top medalist honors over Karlee Canaday of Valley Center by three strokes.

“I had a couple of times where I let my concentration lapse a little,” Martin said. “Other than that, I had a pretty good round. I made a 10-foot putt for par on my last hole, and that was probably my best hole of the day.”

Martin placed fifth in the Class 6-5A state tournament as a junior. Martin would have been third at the Newton tourney last year, but was disqualified for a scorecard violation.

This summer, she took third in the Kansas Women’s Golf Association Junior Amateur Championships. She recently finished tied for seventh at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open held over the Labor Day Weekend at Pebble Beach, paired with PGA Professional Bruce Vaughn.

“There’s an ocean there,” Martin said of Pebble Beach. “It’s a lot different there. I like this course. I had fun here.”

Newton finished ninth with a team score of 243. The Railers were led by Brittnie Dillon with a 54, four strokes out of medal contention. Marissa Bontrager shot a 59.

“I thought we met a lot of our goals,” Newton coach Joanie Rucker said. “Brittnie Dillon and Marissa Bontrager were our only two golfers who played this tournament last year as varsity players last year. They both cut 10 or more strokes off their score from last year. Brittnie played No. 1 for us today. She really worked hard over the summer. I know she wanted to do better than she did today. She finished about 13th. She had an eight on one, and was seven over par after her first two holes. She did much better after that.

“Morgan (Gay) and Kaitlin (Schmidt) tied for third for us. Morgan was playing in her first tournament. She’s a freshman and just started playing this summer, so I was very happy for her.”

Newton finished third among the four Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division II schools in the tournament, finishing behind Arkansas City and Valley Center and ahead of Winfield.

“We have quite a bit to do to catch up to Ark City and Valley Center,” Rucker said. “They each had one score in the 40s, but after that, we were pretty close to them. I’ve got four players who have been playing a year or a little less, so we’re going to be able to make better progress and post better scores.”

Newton plays Tuesday at the Salina Municipal Golf Course for the Salina Central Invitational, followed by Thursday at Winfield.

“Salina is going to be a lot easier,” Rucker said. “This is one of the tougher courses we will play. We come back home for league as well this year. Winfield will be a tough course. I’ve seen years at Salina where girls break 40 and don’t get a medal. Here, you have to keep it on the fairways.”