Cougars' trip to Tomahawk Hills ends in a tie-break

Danny Smith

JAMESTOWN -- The North Putnam boys' golfers traveled to Tomahawk Hills on Thursday to play in a make-up meet with Western Boone and Southmont.

Coming off a one- stroke win over Cloverdale Monday night, the Cougars were anxious to get back on the links to rectify their mistakes from the Cloverdale meet.

North Putnam and Western Boone both shot a 185 and Southmont came in with a 190. As a result of the tie, the fifth score of Western Boone golfer Logan Marsh allowed the win to be granted to the Stars.

"I am very pleased with the fact encountering fewer penalties tonight drastically helped in keeping this score lower than Monday night," NPHS coach Linda Patrick said.

Practice on Wednesday gave the Cougars the opportunity to analyze their game at this point in the season and discuss ways to get the team back on track.

NPHS coach Linda Patrick felt the course was well-played by all teams considering some of the mucky conditions that existed due to the heavy rains this week.

"It is just really hard to get decent shots that don't end up being fat in these conditions," she said. "I was afraid the greens would be slow and the fairways and rough really tall. However, the course was just cut today which made for smooth greens and less tall grass on the course.

"This helped cut down on the fat shots. However, the fringes of the greens were still a little taller than expected and this really impacted balls trying to run up to the green."

Danny Smith continues to shoot consistently. He carded a 43 for the Cougars Thursday, earning second medalist for the meet. Taylor Monts of Southmont was medalist with a 38.

Austin Judy also keeps showing up every meet with consistent scores. He shot 46. Mason Asher and Bennett Hazelgrove both shot a 48.

"Ben is really beginning to be very consistent in his scores," Patrick said. "Asher is hitting good irons but is having trouble finishing holes. Jake Holtze had some struggles again with water penalties but still managed to shoot a respectable score of 56."

Steven Hostetler, still being fairly new to team golf, struggled with his putts and shot a 68.

North Putnam plays next at Fountain Central on Monday.