The Lady Owls celebrated their girls’ golf season on Monday night at Shadowood Golf Course in Seymour. The team reflected on their 2024-25 season, which included a trip to regionals and a runner-up finish in the Bedford North Lawrence Sectional.

Lady Owls head coach Jim Hoffman spoke about the past season for the team.

“You know we always start off a little slow, because we only get two practices before a competition,” Hoffman said. “Putting is going to be difficult especially in the courses we play. We play some really good courses, and we always know that the score is going to come down, so we really do not overreact early.”

After a rough start to the season, Seymour turned the tide and shaved off over 30 strokes throughout the season as a team, leading to their finish.

“The girls really brought the scores down this year, we’re talking 30-to-35 strokes,” he said.

The team will lose two seniors, Katie Cottrill and Emily Windley, as they will graduate in the upcoming spring.

Cottrill qualified for the regional every single year in high school, qualifying as a team three times and as an individual last season.

“They toughed it out for four straight years,” Hoffman said. “I am really impressed with how they carried themselves over that period. The growth of those two young ladies has been remarkable.”

He spoke about Cottrill and Windley’s first meeting at Bloomington four years ago.

“They got just two practices and were thrown right in the fire at Bloomington Country Club on a tough course,” Hoffman said. “That’s how they learned, and blazing by fire is what we always say. There were a lot of tears, laughter, and frustration. But in the end, those girls worked hard, wanted to play, and they just did everything they could do to put the ball in the hole, and they enjoyed it, and other girls enjoyed playing with them.”

The team will focus on 2025 which brings back 2024 Hoosier Hills Conference Honorable Mention in Shana Spray, Emmy Followell, and Caroline Dennis. Seymour will look forward to getting some more players for their next season. Needing at least four to fill out a team.

Coach Hoffman spoke about some early focuses heading into the next season.

“Well first off, we need to get the participation up and we have to get girls out here during the summer,” Hoffman said. “We really don’t want this sport to die and around the whole state there’s a lot of big schools struggling to get participation and we’ve got to fix that somehow.”

The coach is expecting some other girls to give the sport a try in the upcoming year.

“I know we have got a few that are going to possibly come from other sports,” he said. “We need to start working with them a little bit beforehand and get them on the golf course. We can help them start figuring out the game a little bit and see what they can do.”

Spray averaged a 44.1 on 9 holes and a 90.5 on 18 holes. Cottrill had a 47.5/95.5 split between 9 and 18 holes, while Emmy Followell had a 46.5 on 9 and a 99.6 on 18 holes.

Spray earned the low stroke average award. Followell took home the most improved honors. Emily Windley got the Owl Award for sportsmanship. Windley and Cottrill were also given senior awards.

Hoffman mentioned he could’ve given any of the girls the Owl Award.

The team opened their season with a team score of 425 at the Seymour Invitational. They improved throughout, ending the season with a 391 at Otis Park Golf Course in sectionals and followed that up with a 394 at Country Oaks Golf Club in the regional.

Awards

Low Stroke Average Award: Shana Spray

Owl Award: Emily Windley

Most Improved: Emmy Followell

Senior Awards: Katie Cottrill and Emily Windley

Accolades

Regional Qualifier

Runner-Up in Sectional (391)

Hoosier Hills Conference Honorable Mention: Shana Spray

4-Year Regional Qualifer: Katie Cottrill