Greencastle wins seventh straight conference golf tourney

Monday, May 12, 2014
Luke Brotherton won the match after a sudden death playoff hole with Derek Chestnut of South Putnam. Both golfers ened the 18 holes with 72. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

CLAYTON ­-- For golf fans and players alike, conditions at Deer Creek Golf Course were ideal for the WCC Golf Match on Saturday.

Greencastle found them especially hospitable, winning its seventh straight conference title with a round of 310, along with naming four members to the all-WCC squad.

Cloverdale took second place with 347, three strokes better than third place North Putnam which had 350. South Putnam came in fourth on 390, followed by Monrovia's 444. Cascade's squad did not record a team score.

Greencastle golfers celebrate their first place victory at Deer Creek Saturday. This was the fouth conference win for the seniors on the Greencastle golf team and the school's seventh straight win. Teammates include (from left) Alec Davis, Carl Basile, Luke Brotherton, Jake Buis, Tanner Dean and Coach Steve Paquin. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The Tiger Cubs swept the field away with medalist Luke Brotherton coming in with 72, Alec Davis carding 74 and Jake Buis and Tanner Dean both adding 82. Rounding out the team score was Carl Basile shooting 92 as the fifth golfer.

Brotherton took first-place honors by winning a playoff hole against South Putnam's Derek Chestnut and said that taking chances was the key to getting to that point.

"On the 15th hole, I hit a hybrid for my second shot that was about 12 feet from the hole but on the fringe," Brotherton said. "It was a crucial point and I choose to be aggressive, made a birdie and it paid off in the end.

Derek Chestnut had a great day with 72 and just losing out on the medalist title in a playoff round. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"It was a good round. I left a couple of shots out there but it was a solid round overall. The playoff round could have gone either way and I was lucky to be the one to make par."

Greencastle head coach Steve Paquin said the squad took control on the front nine and never let go of the round.

"They really played a good front nine," Paquin said. "There were some penalty shots and missed putts on the back nine but 310 is a good score and it's our best of the season. We'll hopefully continue to improve, get better and lower that score.

No. 1 golfer for North Putnam Danny Smith finished with an 86. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"Luke played very well. Alec played pretty well, though his putting was a little off today. We got four all-conference players out of 10 and this is the fourth year for the seniors to win the conference."

Cloverdale was paced by all-WCC selections Rylan Mattocks, Freddie Fislar and Chase Snyder, who shot 81, 83 and 87, respectively. Aaron Whitlock's 96 rounded out the scoring and Zach Nicholas carded a 107 on the day.

The day could have been very different but Clover head coach Doug Wokoun said the squad ground out a solid round.

Mason Asher, the No. 3 golfer for North Putnam, finished with 85 the lowest score for the Cougars. He and Danny Smith were All-WCC for North Putnam. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"I'm very, very pleased for my guys," Wokoun said. "We've been up and down quite a bit this year. Thursday night we played OK but I wasn't sure how we'd be today.

"We got done what we had to get done and I'm proud of the guys who played for us today. Zach Nichols, a freshman, broke 50 for the first time in competition and this is a tough place to do that.

"Greencastle is a very, very good team and North Putnam is as well," Wokoun noted. "They were both regional qualifiers last year, so we feel good being sandwiched in between those two."

Cloverdale's No. 3 golfer Rylan Mattocks scored the lowest for the Clovers with an 81. Mattocks finished fourth overall, qualifying for the All-WCC team along with his teammates Freddie Fislar who scored 83 and Chase Snyder (87). (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The Cougars added two all-WCC golfers themselves as Mason Asher led the squad with 85 and Danny Smith followed right behind with a round of 86.

Jake Smith narrowly missed all-conference honors with a round of 88 while Austin Judy shot 91 and Ben Hazelgrove tallied 93.

North Putnam head coach Linda Patrick pointed out Hazelgrove's round as an example of the mental toughness the squad exhibited Saturday.

"I'm probably most proud of Bennett, who was really down on himself after the first nine but got his swing back together and dropped nine strokes on the back nine," Patrick said. "To bring his score from a 51 back down to 42 is pretty good and I'm proud of that.

"As far as some of the other players, I thought they were consistent with where we thought they'd play. Jake Smith has played between 43 and 45 all year and just missed the all-conference list.

"Mason Asher stayed stronger today than he did last year at this course to make all-conference," Patrick added. "The same goes for Danny Smith. Austin Judy probably didn't play the game he wanted to today but overall we played our best.

"We knew it was going to be a tough match for second place between us and Cloverdale. We did lose by three strokes but we'll learn from this and move on."

Chestnut's round of 72 paced South Putnam, who was shorn of a fifth golfer due to illness. C.J. Menke carded 100, followed by Jimmy Rutter at 105 and Tyler Neumann on 113.

While disappointed by the playoff hole finish, Chestnut said that being in that situation was a sign of a well-played round.

"I struck the ball pretty well today," Chestnut said. "I only missed one green on the back nine and a lot of that came down to hitting the ball solid.

"To have gotten to a playoff round was a big accomplishment. Leaving that putt out was just a bad break that happens.

Eagle head coach Kevin Metz added that the squad had a lot of ups and downs during the round.

"Derek had a great round today," Metz said. "He struggled a little bit at the beginning of the round but finished strong and had an eagle and birdie at the end. He played pretty well overall.

"We had some ups and downs but when the kids made mistakes, they recovered pretty well. We just made a few too many mistakes to come in the top three but I'm happy with the guys' rounds today."

Each county school will have a match either Monday or Tuesday in advance of the Putnam County match Thursday at Clover Meadows.

Metz said the Eagles should be back to full strength and would be aiming for a better finish Thursday.

"We'll be working on our games Monday through Wednesday to try and fix a few things around the green and putting," Metz said. "We'll practice some and try and prepare the best we can for Thursday."

With Cloverdale and North Putnam only three strokes apart, Patrick said the squad was in a position to flip Saturday's positions.

"From what we have planned, we hope we can catch them," Patrick said. "We'll probably change the lineup a little bit and we have a player not playing today that will play on Thursday.

"I think we can still make the top two and maybe go on from there."

Wokoun, meanwhile, said the round would be entertaining if the weather does not interfere.

"The big concern is that the weather is OK," Wokoun said. "I think we're going to have an exciting tournament as long as the weather holds up. It's going to be very competitive and very interesting to watch."

Paquin was succinct about the round Thursday, saying, "It should be a very good match, a very good match."


At Deer Creek Golf Course

West Central Conference Golf Match

Team Scores

Greencastle 310, Cloverdale 347, North Putnam 350, South Putnam 390, Monrovia 444, Cascade INC


Medalist: Luke Brotherton (G) 72

Individual Scores

Greencastle: Brotherton 72*, Davis 74*, Buis 82*, Dean 82*, Basile 92

Cloverdale: Mattocks 81*, Fislar 83*, Snyder 87*, Whitlock 96, Nichols 107

North Putnam: Asher 85*, D. Smith 86*, J. Smith 88, Judy 91, Hazelgrove 93

South Putnam: Chestnut 72*, Menke 100, Rutter 105, Neumann 113

Monrovia: Woodley 104, Bridgewater 108, Halcomb 116, Marsh 116, Wright 120

Cascade: Lance 97, Flanigan 101, Reach 136


*Denotes All-WCC Selection

Next Matches: Greencastle travels to Northview Monday, North Putnam hosts Danville Monday, South Putnam travels to Owen Valley Tuesday and Cloverdale hosts Clay City Tuesday. All four schools meet for the Putnam County match Thursday at Cloverdale.

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