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Tiger Cubs and Clovers open golf seasons at Northview
BRAZIL -- Unfamiliar conditions greeted high school golf teams competing in the Northview Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
Sunny skies and warm weather gave golfers the chance to hit the links for 18 holes of tournament play. Amongst them were Greencastle and Cloverdale's boys' teams getting their first competition in the books.
Greencastle got a 78 from Luke Crimmins and the Clovers were paced by junior Mike Wellington's 83.
"I'm very happy for the effort that Luke gave us. He had to fight like crazy to qualify for the tournament. He'll tell you that he didn't play well (and he has a point to a degree) but considering what he's been through, this was a strong outing," GHS coach Donovan Wheeler said.
The Tiger Cubs shot a team score of 329 to tie for sixth place in the 12-team tourney with Cloverdale registering a 331.
Clovers' coach Doug Wokoun was happy to see his team face some quality competition and play well in their opening match.
"It was a nice day to play," commented Wokoun. "We played against some good competition and to be able to have that opportunity early will help us."
Terre Haute South looked to be in near mid-season form on the way to a tourney best round of 304 to edge out Edgewood's 306 and the host Knights' 307.
The Mustangs' Harrison Carmichael was medalist with a round of 70, which was good for a tie with South Vermillion freshman Brandon Bekkering. Carmichael won a first-hole playoff to take top honors.
For Wokoun, the tourney was a chance to get a first hand look at five members of his 18-player team.
"It was nice for Chris (Arnold) to get this start," said Wokoun of his starting freshman. "We really got four real solid scores and we have some real competition on our team."
The Clovers also got rounds of 85 from seniors Michael Glassburn and Sean Rhine with Arnold carding an 88 and junior Keith Mathorn shooting a 105.
The Tiger Cubs got an 80 from Eric Davis and rounds of 84 from Jim Wheeler, Nick Pritchard and Jacob Collins.
Wheeler saw positives and negatives from his team.
"We did strike the ball well in terms of the full swing. We got off the tee well, and hit good approach shots for the most part," he said.
If we had shot a 326 with no fairways and greens and had been scrapping and clawing with the short game, then I'd be happy with our effort," Wheeler continued. "However, that wasn't the case. We put ourselves in a position to score very well, and we killed ourselves with our short game. That's simply inexcusable."
Wheeler went on to say it was Greencastle's first tournament of the year, but added that it was also the first tournament of the year for the five teams that finished ahead of the Tiger Cubs.
With five players returning from a regional-qualifying team and a freshman who has been playing tournament golf since he was eight, Wheeler wants to see more.
"At some point we have to decide that settling for the 160/320 level is the same as settling for average," he said.
All the same, though, Wheeler has confidence in his team and its ability to get things together.
"This is a great group of boys. Getting to spend time with them every day, makes me feel like a very lucky man," Wheeler said. "I know that they will respond the right way to what happened to us in the tournament, and I'm going to enjoy watching them learn from this."
The Clovers will open the home portion of their season today with a home match against Linton with Greencastle traveling to West Vigo on Thursday.
At Forest Park Golf Course
T.H. South 304, Edgewood 306, Northview 'A' 307, South Vermillion 312, Turkey Run 320, Greencastle 329, Linton 329, T.H. North 330, Cloverdale 331, Northview 'B' 334, Clay City 351, Sullivan 363
Medalist -- Harrison Carmichael (EW) 70.
Greencastle (329) -- Luke Crimmins 78, Eric Davis 80, Jim Wheeler 84, Jacob Collins 84, Nick Pritchard 84.
Cloverdale (331) -- Mike Wellington 83, Michael Glassburn 85, Sean Rhine 85, Chris Arnold 88, Keith Mathorn 105.