Tiger Cubs breeze past Quakers by 1

Friday, April 30, 2010
Jimmy Wheeler

GREENCASTLE -- On Thursday, Greencastle's home course Windy Hill more than lived up to its name. Golfers from GHS, Cloverdale and Plainfield spent a few hours playing victim to strong winds and watched as most everyone turned in elevated scores.

The Tiger Cubs outlasted Plainfield 174-175 to win the match, with Cloverdale finishing third with a 194 total. Greencastle' Jimmy Wheeler and Cloverdale's Chris Arnold shared medalist honors after firing 40 each.

The conditions made for some tough times Thursday. More than once, golfers traversed along tree lines and in the rough hoping to find their ball. Cloverdale head coach Doug Wokoun noted that his team didn't come prepared for the weather.

Chris Arnold

"We did not put forth a very good effort tonight and I think we were unprepared for the challenge mentally with the weather," Wokoun said. "I think we just weren't ready to deal with that. It's a very painful, but a very valuable lesson about the mental side of golf and what you have to do.

"My hat goes off to the guys who shot 40 today, because that really was a tremendous accomplishment in this weather," he added.

Even for the Tiger Cubs, who call Windy Hill home, the winds made play difficult and the abundance of maple seeds throughout the course didn't help matters much.

"Wow, it was just treacherous today and I think the scores reflect just how difficult the conditions were," GHS head coach Donovan Wheeler said. "We're accustomed to a lot of windy days up here, but I don't think any of us have experienced a day with gale force. This was severe.

"Then you have all those maple seeds all over the place and it was just an exercise in futility trying to clear a path for those. You'd no sooner get one cleared and address the ball, then the Red Sea had closed in and the Egyptians were on the way. It was tough," he commented.

He too acknowledged the efforts of Wheeler and Arnold as Wokoun had.

"I'll tell you what, Chris and Jimmy, 40 is a good number today -- 40's a real good number today. So, I'm not really going to take too much from this in terms of where we are. It was a brutal day and the score reflects it," he said.

Placing second in scoring for Greencastle was Brad Haussin with a 44, followed by Tyler Hopkins and Ray Stinson with a pair of 45s. Eric Embry chipped in a 46 and Marcus Bennassi added a 58.

Following Arnold for the Cloverdale was Alex Evans with a 49, Sam Jordan with a 50 and Brian Book with a 55. Gary Williams shot a 59, while Mike Matthews shot a 62.

Wokoun commented about the competitive nature of the golfer and summed Thursday's experience up perhaps best of all.

"The top guys in the county are very competitive and you're trying to go out and make shots in these conditions, it becomes even more difficult to make shots," he said "So you have a bad one and then you're trying to make it up and it ends up being another bad one.

"This is a game that will humble you at every opportunity and I think a lot of guys today, at different times, got humbled," Wokoun added.

Greencastle will host the Tiger Cub Invite Saturday at 10 a.m., while the Clovers will travel to the Brownsburg Invite at 1 p.m.

At Greencastle

Greencastle 174, Plainfield 175, Cloverdale 194

Medalist -- Wheeler (GHS) 40, Arnold (CHS) 40

Individual Scores

GHS -- Wheeler 40, Haussin 44, Hopkins 45, Stinson 45, Embry 46, Benassi 58

Plainfield -- Bhromer 41, Adams 42, Daum 46, Arnold 46, Reno 48, Skaggs 66

Cloverdale -- Arnold 40, Evans 49, Jordan 50, Book 55, Williams 59, Matthews 62

Next match -- Greencastle will host the Tiger Cub Invite Saturday at 10 a.m., while the Clovers will travel to the Brownsburg Invite at 1 p.m.